Man Cave
by sociallyawkwardpenguin
Summary: Jane invites Maura for a weekend getaway to the fishing cabin that her brothers rented. Maura sees this as a chance to tell Jane how she really feels about her, but will she get up the courage to actually do it? Final chapter has been posted! Thanks for the reviews and favorites!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Well, here goes my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic in a long, long time. I tried to capture Maura's voice as best as I could, and I've actually done several re-writes to try and better capture her spirit and her intelligence. I hope that, while it's not perfect, I've done her some justice. This fic starts slowly but there are Rizzles, I promise. This fic is rated M for later chapters. Let me know what you think in the reviews!

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 1**

It bothers me sometimes, how incredibly dense Jane Rizzoli can be.

Youngest officer to ever make detective. First female detective promoted to the homicide unit. Highest case closure rate among her peers.

I could cite hundreds of positive factoids about Jane, but if you've met her, you already know how intelligent she is. That's why, for the life of me, I can't understand why she doesn't see it. Why is it, that Jane can practically see the guilt on a suspect's face before he ever says a word, but she can't see my love for her when it is right before her eyes?

There has to be some kind of a case study on this. Someone out there must have developed a study on the intricacies of blossoming same-sex relationships when one partner is completely oblivious to the other partner's feelings. If not, maybe I could convince Jane to be the first participant in one. Then again, in order to convince her of that, I'd have to tell her what she's missing, and I lack the courage to do so (and that would defeat the purpose of the cast study to begin with).

I spend more time observing human behavior than I do participating in it, and that has left me at a distinct disadvantage in circumstances like this.

I am perfectly, yet humbly aware of the fact that I am an intelligent being, yet lack the social savvy to simply tell Jane how I feel. It makes me feel guilty that I think Jane is dense sometimes. To call her dense when I myself don't know how to just approach the subject with her is unfair to Jane, but the entire situation seems unfair- to both of us. Not to mention how incredibly frustrated I am becoming- both sexually and with my inability to find a resolution to this issue.

Jane is direct and uncensored. If she felt even a modicum of attraction to me, I'm sure that she would have said something to me by now. She hasn't said a word, and the idea of her not reciprocating these feelings is too much for me to bear. I would rather not think about it at all, except I'm not capable of not thinking, and she is all I ever think about.

Long term, careful analysis has lead me to think that Jane is attracted to me, but doesn't understand it. I've never known Jane to not tackle something she doesn't understand though, and that is what worries me more than anything else. She confronts what she doesn't understand. She reviews it. She researches it. She asks questions from those more knowledgable in the subject than she is, and she works it out until she understands it. Her methods are usually just haphazard enough to make even the lowliest scientist cringe, but Jane always gets solid, accurate results. She never runs from what she doesn't understand. She never hides from it. She may be the Queen of Avoidance sometimes, but Jane typically doesn't fear what she doesn't understand. Instead she avoids what she does understand and doesn't like.

The evidence is there. I've seen Jane react to my presence. Her pupils dilate. Her respiration increases. And if I touch her, her skin warms and her pulse quickens. I don't know how she can ignore those feelings, whether she does it subconsciously or not. So if she doesn't understand it, why isn't she trying to figure it out?

I don't guess, however based on the data gathered thus far, I think the answer to my question is that Jane doesn't understand it, and she also doesn't want to figure it out. I'm not sure if she's afraid of what it will mean if she starts to understand those feelings, or if she has simply chosen to ignore them because they are somehow inconvenient to her. I suspect that my brave detective is afraid of those feelings, and when it comes to most things that she fears, she will not admit that she is afraid. Even to me, and I am the keeper of Jane's darkest secrets. That she doesn't trust me enough to talk to me about these suspected feelings hurts me too. It's not just an emotional pain, either. This constant need to hide my feelings and the hurt I feel when I know my feelings are not reciprocated have caused me sleepless nights, endless headaches and dehydration due to hyperactivity of my lacrimal glands.

I don't pray, but every night I go to bed with the same supplication on my lips. Please Jane, figure it out. I love you, and I want you, and I want you to feel the same way about me.

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**A/N: **So, that was chapter one. Future chapters are already written and most are considerably longer than this chapter. This was more of an introduction to the story than anything else. Is it worth continuing? If you have criticisms, they're more than welcome. Just be polite and constructive when you hit me with them. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Wow! Thanks for all of the encouragement! As promised, this chapter is longer. Most of the chapters in this story are this length. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 2**

It wasn't until one quiet Friday morning in the morgue that, looking back at it, I realized that perhaps Jane had figured it all out. And perhaps she wasn't as unwilling or afraid to understand these feelings as I had originally thought.

She arrived before me to work that day, and was waiting for me with a cup of coffee in my office when I got there. I didn't even have to call out to know who would be waiting in my office when I saw the light was already on in there. She's the only one who comes down to the morgue willingly, even when there are no bodies to be autopsied. She stood up from the couch and held the coffee out to me, smiling that gorgeous smile of hers as she greeted me.

"Morning," Jane said, her voice just gravelly enough to make me want to swoon.

I was tempted to tell her that swooning is technically called syncope, and syncope is caused by a lack of blood flow to the brain. With just that one word, she had definitely made it feel like my blood flow had changed direction and was headed right toward that little bundle of nerves that waits, so impatiently, between my legs for Jane's touch. I could not, however, bring up syncope without her wondering if I was feeling faint and therefore asking for the reason for my malaise. Instead, I smiled back at her and reached out for the coffee.

"It is a good morning indeed, Jane." I replied to her.

"I never said anything about it being a good morning," she stated blandly. "I was just pointing out that it is, in fact, morning."

This is Jane's way of teaching me sarcastic humor. Admittedly, it took me several microseconds to process what she said, and by then she had added "I'm kidding, Maura. It is definitely a good morning."

Even when she pokes fun at me, I soak it up. I try to tell myself it's all about learning when she does this. She teases me so I can learn from observation and emulate her behavior in future social situations. She's doing me a favor with her lighthearted jokes, even if they usually are directed at me. I know this must all be true because if I were to tell myself this and it wasn't the absolute truth, I'd be covered in hives just thinking about it. This is what I tell myself, but that's only a partial truth. I soak up her teasing because it is as much of a turn on to me as the rest of her personality. If she can tease me this much without really flirting, what kind of a tease would she be in bed?

The thought of Jane and I in bed together caused another near syncope episode, so I decided it would be better to refocus my attention on Jane and what she was saying.

"You okay, Maur?" Jane asked, realizing I was lost in thought. "I was just kidding, I-"

I smiled up at her and interrupt her. "I'm fine, Detective. I am actually glad to see you, even when you tease me."

I wanted to add "especially when you tease me", but I withheld. Instead, I watched her eyes light up with the use of her formal title and I asked "what brings you down here? There are no bodies to autopsy today."

"I just wanted to say hi," Jane said. "But if you're busy, I can come back later. Hey, maybe we can go to lunch? There's that new Thai place a few blocks over and I could really go for some pad Thai."

"I'm glad you came by to say hello. And lunch at the new Thai place sounds great. I've actually got very little to do at the moment, so if you want to stay for a while, you're more than welcome."

Jane dropped herself on the couch and patted the seat next to her. Right next to her. She didn't indicate the other end of the couch or even point to my chair behind my desk. She openly, voluntarily, readily invited me to sit next to her.

"Sit with me," she said. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

"Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!" I thought, suddenly imaging Jane whipping out a ring from the pocket of her slacks. I had it bad. I still do. I always will. I waited a moment to respond to her, letting the fleeting thought of a proposal drift out of my head as I alighted on the cushion next to her. I told myself I wanted to be graceful as I sat, but I also knew that Jane would be watching me, and if I sat slowly and primly, I would have her eyes on me longer than I would have if I had just flounced into the seat the same way she had earlier.

"What's up?" I asked, proud of my use of such a colloquialism.

"Well, I just so happen to know that you and I both have off this weekend. And the way the rotation is set up, I am not on call. And I also happened to find out that the cabin that Frankie and Tommy rented at the beginning of the season will be free this weekend. So I was wondering if you could maybe make it so you're not on call this weekend too, and we could head up there for a couple of days? I want to get away so badly, but I don't want to be all alone. And theres nobody-, I mean, I'd love it if you would come with me. There's lots of little boutiques in town, and Tommy said that there's a ton of trails up there to just wander along."

Was she just about to say that there was no one else she wanted to go up there with? If I made assumptions, that is what I would assume she was going to say before she caught herself. Regardless, I was intrigued by her invitation and of course I wanted to go. I would go anywhere with Jane, and the idea of a weekend away with her was too perfect to pass up. I tried my best not to sound too eager when I accepted her invitation, though.

"Of course, Jane. That sounds wonderful. I'm definitely off this weekend, and there's no reason why I can't call in Dr. Pike to cover for me for any emergencies that come in. I'm sure he would love the opportunity to sit in my chair."

Jane let out a short laugh that nearly sent me reeling. I realized in that moment that I wanted to make her laugh all the time, because seeing her eyes crinkle and her smile shine through her usually surly facade made me immensely happy. I wondered if Jane realized that I was one of the only people she laughed like this around. She has a wonderful sense of humor, but she rarely let outsiders see her smile and laugh like this.

"As long as you're okay with him sitting in your chair. And touching your instruments. And basically spreading his Pike Cooties all over the place..."

"Jane, there is no such thing as 'cooties'. The term that you reference is derived from American and Canadian folklore, and may actually reference lice or other undesirable parasites that are generally considered to be a problem of the 'unwashed masses'. However, despite the nonexistence of these imaginary germs about which you have spoken, don't let me think about the rest of it. I might be forced to turn you down, and I would really like to go. "

"You couldn't just say 'yes', Maura?" Jane deadpanned.

"Oh, well, yes. I'd really like to go with you. I just don't want to think about Doctor Pike or his gluteus maximus perched upon my office chair. Instead, tell me what you have planned so I know what to pack. Actually, if it's still this quiet after lunch, maybe I'll pop out and pick up a nice outfit or two. I would enjoy that."

"Hey, don't go too overboard. We are talking about Frankie and Tommy's man cave here."

"Man cave, Jane?"

"You know, where guys go to hang out and be all manly and stuff."

"Actually, I don't know. I've never been to man cave before."

Despite the physical impossibility of the notion, I could actually hear the sarcasm in Jane's eye roll- something else I had learned from Jane. "Picture Korsak's apartment, only more sparsely furnished, and probably half as clean too."

"Oh, sounds delightful!" I gushed, proud of myself for being sarcastic.

"Well, if it's not your cup of tea..." Jane started.

"Jane, I was doing that whole sarcasm thing with you. You do it so much, I would have thought you would recognize it immediately." I poked Jane gently with my elbow, quietly enjoying the fact that we were seated close enough to one another to actually do that. I continued speaking before I could think of anything else I could do with Jane at that close proximity.

"I think the entire idea sounds charming. We can do yoga by the lake in the morning, jog on the trails, shop in the boutiques in town, and maybe if it's still warm enough, we can swim in the lake, too. It all sounds like such a wonderful break!"

"Whoa!" Jane barked, placing a cautionary hand on my forearm. "I'm going up there to relax, Maura. Not to tire myself out even further."

"Yoga is very relaxing. It's even better when you are outdoors in a natural setting." I replied.

"Really? Because after our little sojourn to western Mass and the army-ranger-turned-yogi that tried to kill us both, I didn't think you'd feel that way about outdoor yoga anymore. Anyway, I tell you what, Maura. Pack casual, but warm clothes, and a bathing suit, though I am not sure it's warm enough for swimming at this point. The cabin is about two and a half hours north of us, and it's already getting chilly here. I am packing my bathing suit anyway, just in case, so you should too. But whether we swim or not, we'll plan our activities when we get up there, all right?"

"Fair enough, Jane. I'm looking forward to it." As I said this, I realized that Jane hadn't removed her hand from my forearm. I hoped she never would.

Instead, she squeezed my arm as she stood up. "I've got to get some paperwork done, but I'll be back around lunchtime and we can try out that Thai place."

"I'll see you then," I said, wishing we could just leave for our trip right away.

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**A/N: ** So, are you as excited about their trip as Maura is? Do you think Maura will find the courage to tell Jane how she feels? Do you think Jane feels the same way about Maura? Stay tuned, folks.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ** Wow! I can't believe the positive feedback and all of the encouragement I've gotten so far. Thank you all so much! Hopefully the story will continue to live up to your expectations. :) So, how about some Thai food?

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 3**

One of the problems with being hyper-efficient is that there are times, like that Friday, when there is no backlog of dead bodies to process. I had delegated most of my paperwork to one of my assistants and the lab techs were performing their work with a casual slowness that indicated that they too were on the cusp of being just as bored as I was. I checked with Susie, my senior criminalist, several times and even I could sense her irritation forming when she told me "everything is under control" and she would call if anything unusual came in. I wound up sitting in my office, looking at the new Jimmy Choo collection for a few hours, but even that wasn't holding my attention. My thoughts kept shifting to the trip with Jane that weekend, and I silently tried to think of ways to let her know I had feelings for her without scaring her away or losing her friendship.

I played several scenarios out in my head, and none of them seemed right. For every scenario I hypothesized, I wound up theorizing that Jane would either slap me, run away, never speak to me again, or some combination of all three.

After a little while, I decided it would probably be better not to think about it anymore, as I was starting to get quite upset and didn't want to ruin any of the fun we would have that weekend. I wound up simply sitting there, staring at the phone because I truly had nothing better to do.

When Jane called down at around noon, I had been waiting so eagerly for her call that I nearly jumped out of my seat when the phone rang.

"Dr. Isles," I breathed into the phone.

"You ready? I'm starving!" Jane asked.

"I'll meet you in the lobby," I said as I grabbed my purse and tried not to run toward the elevator.

Lunch that afternoon was very enjoyable, despite the fact that I fretted over Jane's food choices. I tried to suggest she get tofu instead of beef in her pad Thai, but she was hearing nothing of it.

"What?" Jane asked, knowing just from my look what I was about to say. "I ordered the fried tofu for an appetizer, aren't you happy about that?"

"It's fried, Jane. That defeats the purpose of it being healthy."

"Well, the fried part is what makes it taste good. You should try it. One piece isn't going to kill you."

"You're right. I know of no reports of sudden death after ingesting small quantities of fried tofu, but that's just off the top of my head. I could look it up and see if there have been any cases though. And that of course would be just cases of sudden cardiac arrest. I would have to narrow my search parameters to exclude airway obstruction because that's far too common in any restaurant-related death and might not have anything to do with the type of food itself. I could also add anaphylactic shock to the parameters for a more accurate search result. I don't think soy products cause many allergic reactions but it would be interesting to research. Oh! I can't forget food poisoning related deaths- but you were talking about instant or near-instant death, weren't you?"

I didn't catch the look on Jane's face until after I'd taken a spoonful of my Tom Yum soup and looked up after expecting a response from her and not getting one. It was only then that I realized she was kidding me, again. When I did look up, she caught my eye and grinned, then shook her head gently.

"Oh, right." She didn't have to say anything at all for me to realize how much I had misunderstood her and how she really wasn't looking for the number of people that had died from eating fried tofu. I took another spoonful of soup, using that as an opportunity to avert my gaze, and wished that she thought the blush creeping across my cheeks was simply due to the steam coming off of my soup. I knew better though. She knew I was embarrassed because the good detective didn't let much get by her. Except for these feelings of unrequited love, that is, and I still don't know how she hadn't picked up on it yet.

"You know I kid around with you because I love you, right?" Jane asked, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand.

I tried so hard- so, so hard- to keep the hopeful expression off my face. No matter what she meant by the words "I love you", hearing them whenever she said them made my heart start to palpitate. I think I was only partially successful at masking my expression, but if Jane noticed it, she showed no sign of it. And of course, I had no choice but to answer her question truthfully.

"Of course Jane. And I only put up with it because I love you too."

The smile on her face gave me such hope.

The rest of our lunch went by in a blur, with Jane occasionally ribbing me for the entire tofu-related death statistics research offer interspersed with lots of work-related conversation, news about our respective families, and so on. We returned to the precinct remarking about how that was one of the few times we had gone to lunch and had not been interrupted due to a work issue. Both of us were bored and didn't know what to do with ourselves with so little work, but neither of us wanted a homicide or a suspicious death to come in that afternoon because it would delay our departure later that evening.

I wound up leaving work a few hours early that Friday when Jane stuck her head into my office to let me know that Cavanaugh had gotten tired of watching her fidget and sent her home early. I figured I had nothing else going on so I would just go home early too and pack. It was so rare to be so completely caught up and not have any major cases pending autopsy, so I figured I would take advantage of it. That would give me plenty of time to pack (and obsess over what to wear, despite Jane's man cave warnings) before Jane arrived to pick me up. Jane was coming by at 7 o'clock, and I didn't want to keep her waiting. I was excited about this mini-vacation with her, and I was secretly happy to see that she was as excited about this trip as I was.

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**A/N: **Finally we're getting to the part where they actually go on the road trip! :) How much do you think Maura is going to pack to go away to the cabin in the woods?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I have been positively overwhelmed by the response to this story so far. Thank you so much for the great reviews and suggestions. I appreciate it so much!

And now the girls take the show on the road... or something like that. :)

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 4**

Jane arrived at my house at about quarter to seven, but instead of coming directly to see me, she brought Jo Friday and her tortoise over to her mother in the guest house. I had called Angela earlier in the day and asked her to look in on Bass and feed him for the three days we'd be gone, and Angela had readily agreed. I'm so fortunate that Angela has accepted me as one of her own and offers me as much love and warmth as she does her own children. No one could ever substitute for my adoptive mother, but Angela has provided me with a lot of the love I felt like I missed out on as a child. That's not to say my own parents didn't love me. They certainly did love me in their own way, but Angela is much more affectionate and I frequently crave that affection. Jane would be upset to hear it, but she shows me just as much affection as her mother shows Jane, despite her tough detective attitude. I experience sides of Jane that I am fairly certain even her own family doesn't get to see, and I count each of those experiences as they happen as treasures for me to keep. I hoped to experience a few more of those treasures that weekend.

While Jane was at her mother's, I locked up the house and gave Bass a few strokes on his shell. He had plenty of water and I left him a strawberry to munch on as well as his dinner. Angela would come by in the morning to check on him. Truthfully, I did not expect him to miss me while I was gone. Actually, provided that Angela fed him on schedule, he probably wouldn't even notice I wasn't there. At least I wouldn't have to worry about causing him any kind of separation anxiety.

After several hours of deliberating, I had managed to pack and then re-pack a small, carry-on size rolling suitcase and a duffel bag. I regretted not using a larger suitcase so I could fit more pairs of shoes in with the outfits I'd chosen, but I was afraid of ruining my good Manolos in the woods, and they really were not practical for where we were going and what we were planning to do. I had also changed the outfits I had packed several times, unsure of whether I should go completely casual or choose clothes that were more appropriate for attracting Jane's attention. In the end I packed a little of both, and was proud that I had only brought three outfits more than I really needed for a weekend away. I moved both bags near the front door so they could be ready when Jane was ready to leave. I was just finishing up turning off lights and making sure the windows were all locked when I heard a knock at the back door and Jane stuck her head in.

"Hellooo?"

"Hi Jane, I'm just finishing up. Are you ready to go?"

"I'm all set. Do you mind putting your stuff in the car while I use your bathroom?"

"Sure, I can do that. Do you want to take the Prius? It's got a full tank and will get better gas mileage."

Jane considered this for a moment before she started to shake her head no. I interrupted her before she could even start speaking. "You can drive the Prius if you want to. I know how you don't like to be driven around, and I am sure with you behind the wheel, we'll get there a whole five minutes faster than if I drive."

"Ha ha, Maura. Is that a joke about the way I drive?"

"Yes it is, Jane. Would you feel more comfortable driving your car?"

"I think it's a good idea to take the Prius. Why not load your stuff in there and I'll put my stuff in after I get out of the bathroom."

"Give me your keys, I'll load everything up while you're in there." I said.

Jane handed me her keys and walked toward the bathroom. I wheeled my things outside and loaded up the Prius. I also pulled Jane's duffel bag and a cooler out of her car and placed them in my car as well.

When Jane came out, I mentioned the cooler and asked if I should have packed some food too. She told me not to worry, she had packed enough for the both of us, and had even remembered to pack healthy things that she knew I would like. That's just another of the many, many things I love about Jane. She thinks of things like that and goes out of her way to do them for me. I ran back into the house to grab a bottle of good wine that I had been saving for a special occasion and locked up the house.

"What's that for?" Jane asked as I slid into the passenger seat beside her.

"I had been saving that for a special occasion, and what's more special than a vacation with you?" I asked back.

"Maur, I don't want to disappoint you, but we're going up to the man cave that my brothers rented for the season. I'm not even sure there are wine glasses up there."

"If there aren't any, we'll pick some up. And it's not the place that's special, Jane, it's who I am spending my time with that is. I can't possibly be disappointed."

Jane took my left hand in her right hand and gave it a squeeze as she drove us toward the interstate. "I'm glad you feel that way. Hopefully you'll still feel that way once we get there. I have a feeling that this cabin may not be... let's just say that you're probably used to higher quality accommodations. From what Frankie and Tommy told me, this place is one step up from roughing it completely."

"I'm looking forward to the adventure then, Jane. I've never really had to rough it while camping, and this sounds like it will be pretty close to it." I squeezed Jane's hand in return before she put it back on the wheel.

We were about thirty minutes into the drive, talking amiably, when the first raindrop hit the windshield. It landed just a few inches to the left of the center of the windshield. It was a big, fat drop that splattered into smaller, more misshapen drops before racing up the windshield from the force of the wind created by the forward motion of our car. It was quickly followed by a second, equally large drop, then a third and a fourth.

Then the drops stopped, long enough for me to say "Oh, I hope that if it's going to rain, the rain stays here and doesn't follow us north. I didn't even think to look at the weather forecast, though they are notoriously inaccurate most of the time anyway."

Jane uttered her agreement and then an expletive as the sky opened up above us and the rain started coming down in sheets.

The rain stayed with us for the next hour of our trip, and as a result, were not making very good time. The roads were fairly empty for a Friday night, but the volume of the rain made it difficult to see, and Jane was forced to drive slower than the posted speed limit. We were listening to the radio to get a better idea of what the weather was like at our destination, and we heard about widespread power outages due to high winds and rain.

"Maybe we should turn back, Jane."

"I dunno Maura, I mean, we're about halfway there. I could pull off at the next exit and we can pick up some candles and a crank lantern to play it safe. We still have at least another hour and a half- maybe longer- before we get there, and by then the lights might be back on. That's if they're even out at the cabin at all."

I sensed that Jane really wanted to get to our destination, even if there was the possibility of a power outage. She was tense, leaning forward in her seat as if she was urging the car and the traffic ahead of her to just keep moving. I don't normally "go with my gut", but I had a feeling that Jane's anxiety wasn't completely related to the wrench the weather was throwing into our plans. I wanted to ask her why she was so anxious, but thought it better to wait until we arrived safely at the cabin to ask her about it. There was no point in making Jane stress out more than she already was. It would only be a danger to us both while she was driving.

"Let's go for it then. I said I was looking forward to an adventure, and if the power is out when we get there, it will be even more of an adventure. Let's go have some fun, Jane."

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**A/N: ** What kind of fun do you think they'll have? I've written about Jane and Maura in blackouts before- do you think the same thing will happen in this story? Only one way to find out- stay tuned! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thank you for sticking with me so far! I am so encouraged by all of the great reviews and private messages. I am trying to respond to all of the reviews as quickly as I can, and if you haven't gotten a response from me yet please don't worry. I've just been concentrating on getting this chapter ready to go up, and I will get thank you messages out to all the reviews very soon.

Back to our girls... It's slow going, but that's what happens when you drive two hours north in the middle of a tropical storm. :) Stick with me- the end will be worth it, I promise!

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 5**

We pulled off at the next exit and drove around until we found a Home Depot that was open twenty-four hours. We picked up a box of candles, matches, a lantern and a radio that each operated off of a hand crank, and some spare batteries for the flashlight that I already kept in the trunk of my car. Near the checkout, I spotted a box of "starter logs". I don't normally approve of artificial products that mimic their natural counterparts- in this instance wood chemically infused with a flammable chemical- but the idea of a warm fire was very appealing, and I wasn't sure that either Jane or I could actually build a fire without those logs.

"Jane, is there a fireplace at this cabin?" I asked, pointing at the starter logs.

"There is! Great idea Maura!" Jane picked up the starter logs and a bundle of natural logs next as well. "Even if the power is still working, it'll be nice to build a fire. Frankie says it gets pretty cold up there at night."

I started loading the items onto the checkout counter and had to stop Jane from paying for everything. "You already bought a cooler full of food, Jane. Let me get this."

"I invited you on this trip Maura, please let me pay for this stuff. It's only right."

"It's my turn to pay," I said as I handed the cashier my card and signed the receipt. "but you can buy me dinner one of the nights we're at the cabin if you want."

That seemed to satisfy Jane, because she smiled and put her card away.

"I like that idea Maura. I'm going to hold you to it."

"Fine with me. It's a date!"

Oops. Had I really said that out loud? I looked over at Jane quickly and expected her to be angry or embarrassed or confused or formulating a sarcastic deflection of some kind. I never expected to see her beaming back at me.

"It's a date." She repeated, leaving me speechless, confused, and more than just a little bit hopeful.

We loaded our purchases into the car and Jane got us back onto the highway. While we were shopping it had gotten dark out. The rain was still coming down hard and the strong winds were buffeting the car, making it hard for Jane to keep the Prius in its lane. Jane drove quietly, most of her attention on the highway in front of her. For a while, the driving rain, the howling wind, the rhythmic sound of the windshield wipers and the hiss of the tires against the wet pavement were the only noise in the car. Jane was so wrapped up in driving that I don't think she noticed how quiet I was. I had begun to flip the words "it's a date" over in my head, exploring all of the possibilities that phrase could connote.

Logically, Jane probably only meant we had plans for one night while we were at the cabin. It's unlikely that she meant we were going out on a romantic date. But if she didn't mean a romantic date, why was she smiling at me like that? It wasn't her "oh look, Maura made yet another social faux pas" smile. That smile was genuine. That smile was hopeful. That smile was confident.

Then again, it was also very possible that my feelings for Jane were clouding my ability to see things for what they were. Since Jane had asked me to accompany her up to the cabin earlier that day, I continually had to remind myself that this was just Jane and I going on a trip together. I had to keep reminding myself that Jane had given absolutely no indication that she was feeling the same way about me that I had been feeling about her.

Still, her words and that smile gave me hope, and I knew just how potent hope could be, especially when it came to clouding judgment.

We had been on the road for another hour, and were making slightly better time, when I felt Jane place her hand over mine on my knee. "You're so quiet," she said.

"So are you," I replied.

"Whatcha thinking about?" She asked.

"You." I answered quickly, not realizing that I was opening a door to questions I wasn't sure I could deflect.

"Me?" Jane asked. "What were you thinking?"

How could I answer that? If I told her about how I was questioning those three words, pondering the phrase "it's a date" for over an hour, she would surely have more questions for me. They were questions I desperately wanted to answer but was completely unprepared to do so. I couldn't lie though. I am simply incapable of lying and she would know immediately if I did. I also didn't want to spend the entire weekend covered in hives, so I needed to figure something out, fast.

"I was- OH MY GOD JANE, LOOK OUT!"

A tractor trailer had been traveling to the right of us when a car on the entrance ramp decided to try and speed up and merge onto the highway in front of it. The car didn't leave enough clearance and the tractor started merging into our lane of travel to avoid striking the car entering the highway. Thankfully there was no one in the lane to our left, and Jane was able to swerve into the lane just in time. The road was really wet though, and Jane had to maneuver carefully to prevent the car from skidding into the center divider. Jane's a trained tactical driver however, and she didn't over correct. She skillfully brought the car back into the lane of travel while both the tractor trailer and the offending car drove off, oblivious to just how close we had all just come to disaster.

"Are you all right?" Jane asked, looking over at me briefly and reaching for my hand. I wondered if Jane realized that she constantly reached out for me to protect me when she sensed some sort of danger. Didn't she understand what that kind of reaction implied? How could she not see it? Her tight grip on my hand combined with the cold flash of fear that I'd felt made it hard for me to formulate a coherent reply.

"Yeah. Yes. Yes, I'm all right, Jane. Are you all right?"

"I am. Serves me right though, driving in that truck's blind spot like that."

"You really didn't have much choice, Jane."

"Yeah, I did. I could have slowed down to be behind the truck or I could have used the left lane to get ahead of it. I didn't have to cruise down the middle lane and sit in his blind spot like that. I know better."

"Well, the important thing is that we're safe. If I had been driving, I don't think I would have been able to maneuver like that. For once I'm glad that you're a bit of a daredevil behind the wheel."

"Hey! I'm not a daredevil. You're just a slow driver!"

"I'm not slow! I'm cautious!"

I looked over at Jane and she glanced back at me, and we laughed, both of us slightly giddy as the fear ebbed away.

"I can't believe we almost just became road splatter, and we're laughing." Jane remarked.

"Following a stress reaction like we just had, it's normal to laugh like this. It's a natural reaction to the release of adrenaline."

"Thank you Doctor Isles." Jane laughed some more.

"Are you sure you're all right? I can drive for a while if you want."

"That's all right, I'd like to get there before the weekend is over."

We both started laughing again, and I was silently thankful for the distraction, even if that distraction almost got us killed.

After a few minutes, Jane turned the radio back on to listen for a weather update. Unfortunately things hadn't changed. There were still tropical storm force winds and heavy rains. The number of power outages in the area had gone up instead of down. People were being urged to stay off of the roads and take shelter. I felt somewhat silly about us deciding to continue on to our vacation, but weekends like that one were so rare for us, and all I wanted to do was spend time with Jane. I could tell though, that the newscaster's message was worrying Jane.

"We could still turn back, you know. It's all right if you want to do that, Jane. I don't mind."

"But we've come so far, and I really wanted to spend the weekend with you. We both needed a break and..."

"And what, Jane?"

"Nothing. If you think it's better that we turn around, just say the word and I'll turn us around. I don't think it's dangerous up there, though we may be inconvenienced a bit if the power is out. I want to do what you want to do."

"I want to go up to the cabin with you, Jane. As long as you feel safe, I trust your judgment."

"It might not be as fun as we planned though."

"You're going to be there, right?"

"Uh, of course Maura. Did you think I was going to just drop you off there and turn around to go home by myself?"

I laughed. "Of course not. I was trying to make a point. If you're going to be there, I'm guaranteed fun."

Jane gave me a quick grin and turned her attention back to the road. "We're not far now. Maybe another half an hour. Are you hungry? We can pull off at one of the rest stops and get something to eat if you want."

"Maybe we should, though I am wary of rest stop food. On the other hand, if the power is off at the cabin, we won't be able to cook anything."

"I brought plenty of cold cuts for sandwiches and the ingredients for salads. We don't have to stop off for scary rest stop food if you're good to wait until we get to the cabin."

"You bought vegetables?" I asked, completely flabbergasted.

"I did." Jane said with pride. "Green ones, even. And not pickles for burgers. I also bought steaks for us to grill, so let's hope the power is on so we can refrigerate them. Though if it's cold enough, they'll keep in the ice in the cooler too."

"I hope it won't be too cold. I packed warm clothes, but I don't want to have to wear all of my clothes all at once."

"Now that would be a sight! You would look like the little brother in the movie A Christmas Story." Jane glanced over and laughed at my expression. "Let me guess, you never saw the movie?" said as she laughed again.

"No, I haven't."

"We'll rent it this Christmas. I don't understand how you've gotten as far as you have in life without full understanding of the phrase 'you'll shoot your eye out!'."

"Oh, is it a violent film? I don't like violent films. You know that."

"It's a comedy, Maura. It's a hilarious comedy and you and I are going to make a big bowl of popcorn on Christmas Day and we're going to sit on your couch and we are going to watch that movie."

"Aren't you going to spend Christmas with your family, Jane?" I asked.

"You are my family, Maura."

"That's so heartwarming, Jane. But I'm pretty sure your mother would be angry if you didn't see her and your brothers for the holiday. I'm also certain your mother will want TJ there, which means Lydia and her mother will also be there to visit. I would imagine it's going to be quite a full house on Christmas Day."

"She'd be mad if she didn't see you, too. Are you going to visit your parents for Christmas?" Jane looked disappointed at the prospect of not spending the holiday together.

"No, actually they're going to be in Paris. I don't have plans for the holiday."

"Yes you do. You're going to spend it with the Rizzolis. Ma wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would I."

Now it was my turn to place my hand over Jane's, which was resting on the center console now that Jane had released her death grip from the steering wheel following the incident with the truck. "Thanks Jane. I can't think of a better way to spend the holiday."

"Well, it is three months away, so you have time to make other plans if you wanted to, but I know you're not gonna break Ma's heart by skipping off to Paris or something." The smirk on Jane's face told me she was kidding.

"I wouldn't miss Christmas with your family this year even if I had the chance to go to Paris. My parents will be far too busy to see me. Also, your mother makes delicious gnocchi and I can't wait to have some."

"You have my mother's gnocchi every Sunday, Maura."

"I know, but I won't be having any this Sunday." I replied, a small pout forming as my stomach reminded me that I was hungry, and could have eaten a giant portion of Angela Rizzoli's gnocchi right then and there.

"So you're going to wait for Christmas to make up for it?" Jane asked.

"No, I think I'll make up for it on our date this weekend."

"You're really looking forward to that, aren't you?" Jane asked, that same smile from the hardware store on her face again.

"I am." I replied, and thought "more than you'll ever know."

"So, we're good to wait until we get to the cabin before we eat, or should we stop at the next exit?" Jane sounded like she was changing the subject, and I can't say that I blamed her. That date was going to be a double edged sword for me. I was excited about the prospect, and terrified that she just meant we were going out for dinner as any set of friends would. That smile though, that smile that Jane kept shining at me whenever we talked about it gave me hope, and for once in my life I didn't try to let logic talk me out of being hopeful.

"Yes, we are good to wait until we get to the cabin." I said, and leaned forward to watch for our exit along with Jane.

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**A/N: **So is it a date, or isn't it a date? What did Jane Rizzoli have in mind when she responded to Maura's slip of the tongue? ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **You know that comedy skit where the person sits there going "They like me! They really, really like me!"? That is pretty much what I have been doing since all these terrific reviews have started to come in. OK, I haven't been saying it out loud, but I admit, I have been thinking it. Thank you to everyone that has been reading this fic, and those of of you that have left reviews and sent PMs, extra thank yous to you as well!

FINALLY we get to the cabin! Stick around, interesting things are about to happen!

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 6**

We had a hard time finding the cabin. It was located off a gravel road that wasn't marked, and in the dark and in the pouring rain we wound up passing it three times before we caught on to where we needed to turn. The rain had made the road a muddy mess, but there was still enough gravel down to give the car enough traction to get to the cabin.

The cabin itself was very simple. Outside of the one-story wooden cabin there was a small covered porch, and on the porch sat a rocking chair and a charcoal grill. Inside the cabin there was one large room, with a tiny kitchenette and a living room/bedroom combination. A small bathroom with an old-fashioned claw foot tub was through a door at the rear of the cabin. I have to admit I was relieved to see there was indoor plumbing. Based on Jane's earlier comments, I hadn't been sure that there would be.

The fireplace was at one end of the room, nearest to the bedroom part of the living room/bedroom combination, and kitchenette was at the other end. The bed was somewhat strangely placed between the small table outside of the kitchenette and the couch. Windows faced the front of the cabin, where Jane had parked the car and another set of windows faced the lake, which was pitch black and obscured by the storm.

As we suspected it might be, the power was out when we arrived at the cabin. We used the flashlight and the crank lantern to familiarize ourselves with the inside of the cabin itself. Since the cabin was small, the crank lantern and the flashlight lit up the room surprisingly well.

"It's really clean in here. For a 'man cave' I'm surprised." I said.

"Oh, the rental comes with a weekly cleaning service. You didn't expect Frankie and Tommy to keep this place looking this spotless, did you?"

"No, that's why I was surprised."

"There's supposed to be fresh linens in the closet over there. If you want to make the bed, I'll go pull the essentials out of the car. This way only one of us has to get wet." Jane said.

"I can help unload the car, that's not a problem."

"No, it's okay, I can do it. How about you put the linens on the bed, and if you don't mind, could you put a blanket and a pillow on the couch for me too?"

"You're going to sleep on the couch?" I asked, surprised and somewhat disappointed. The bed was definitely big enough for the both of us, and we had slept on the same bed before that night.

"Well there's only one bed and you're my guest so I figured I would just take the couch."

"Jane, don't be silly. Just sleep on the bed with me. It's not like we haven't done that before." I wanted to add "I promise I'll behave" too, but if I was completely honest with myself, I didn't know if that was a promise I was capable of keeping.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Jane. Also, its absolutely freezing in here and it'll be warmer for us both if we just sleep in the same bed. Go unload the car, and take the flashlight with you. I'll use the lantern and will make the bed. Are you sure you don't want me to help you?"

"No, it's fine. It's better if only one of us gets wet."

Jane pulled up the hood on her sweatshirt and dashed out to the car. I heard her leaving things on the covered porch as I made the bed. She was bringing in the last of the bags just as I was grabbing a towel for her from the closet.

Though she had only been out in the deluge for a few minutes, Jane was soaked from head to toe.

"Did it soak through all of your layers?" I asked, wrapping the towel around her. Without even realizing what I was doing, I pulled her in and, with her arms trapped inside the towel, hugged her to me tightly and rubbed her back, trying to rub some warmth back into her.

Instead of answering me, Jane just nodded her head lightly against me and murmured "mmhmm".

I don't know how long we stood there like that. I know it was longer than it should have been, but Jane made no effort to move away from me. I held her and we listened to the storm howl outside, and it struck me that despite what was going on outside, whenever I was alone with Jane like this, there was peace within.

When it finally began to dawn on me that I had been holding her for far longer than I should have been, I gave her one more squeeze and started to pull away. As soon as I did, Jane shuddered.

"Oh Jane, you're shivering! Go get those clothes off and put on pajamas. I'll see if I can get a fire started, and then we'll put together something for a quick dinner."

"Okay," Jane said. "Maura have you ever built a fire before?"

"Well I have a fireplace in my house, Jane."

"Yes, but that fireplace has fake logs and a gas feed with an automatic igniter."

"I'll figure it out, Jane. Go get changed. You're dripping all over the floor."

Jane had a hard time finding the clothes she wanted to wear in the dark, but managed to find her pajamas after a few minutes. I was thankful I had the fireplace to keep me occupied because I don't know if I could have kept myself from staring at Jane as she got changed. I've seen Jane get undressed before, but my feelings for her were never this strong and I don't know what she would think of me if she caught me staring at her. It was bad enough that the morgue tech had caught me staring at Jane when she took the decontamination shower a few weeks prior, when we experienced the code red event. To his credit, he didn't say anything to me, though I think he may have mentioned it to Susie, based on a change in her demeanor afterward. Either that or she was just aggrieved because Jane had turned down their invitation to go camping with them at a nudist retreat. Regardless, I didn't need to be caught staring at her again. I had feelings for her, and was more attracted to her than I had ever been to anyone else, but I wasn't a peeping Tom.

By the time Jane came back over to me, I had arranged the logs with the starter log on the bottom and the "real" logs on top. There was some kindling in a basket next to the fireplace and I had placed that between the bigger logs. The first few matches I had lit sputtered out and died when I placed them in the fireplace.

"Not bad, Maura, but you should try it this way." Jane rearranged some of the logs and removed some of the kindling. "You need a little bit of space in there for oxygen to get in. The fire won't stay lit if there's no oxygen."

"I should have known that." I blushed. I normally despised making silly mistakes, but I was even more embarrassed to make a mistake like that in front of Jane. All I ever wanted to do was impress her and make her proud of me. To her credit, she didn't poke fun at me. Maybe she was just too cold to think of anything funny to say.

"You were off to a pretty good start though. Now I would recommend that you use the match to light the paper on the starter log. That should ignite the starter log and the starter log should then ignite the rest of the logs."

I did as Jane suggested, and sure enough, we had a fire going within a few minutes. "You know a lot about building fires. Where did you learn that?"

"I was a Sprout Trooper, Maura. I did get my Campfire Safety badge. Didn't you?"

"No." I blushed. "I didn't get many badges. I was usually too busy looking for animals to necropsy when we went camping with the Sprout Troopers."

"It's too bad they didn't have a Necropsy badge." Jane said with a smile, and got up from kneeling next to me at the fireplace.

The room had started to warm up and with the fire going it was a little brighter too. Jane took the lantern and walked over to the cooler. "Are you hungry? We probably shouldn't open and close the cooler too much if we don't want the steaks to go bad."

"I could go for a salad. Want me to make one for both of us?"

"Sure." Jane shrugged.

"Really? You want a salad?" I asked, genuinely surprised at the ease with which Jane had agreed to eat something healthy.

"Yes Maur, I want a salad." Jane rolled her eyes. "I actually could go for a steak but with that wind out there, it would probably blow away if I put it on the grill to cook it. So tonight I'll have a salad and I will enjoy it."

"You never cease to amaze me." I replied, taking the ingredients from her as she handed them to me. "It's pretty cold outside. I think it's only about fifty degrees, and with the rain and the wind chill, it feels more like forty. We could always put the cooler back in the car for the night once we're done with it, and it should keep things from thawing out completely."

"That's a good idea, but it's raining out there. You're gonna get wet." Jane said.

"I'm going to get wet?" I asked, surprised at her snap decision to send me out into the deluge.

"Well, I already unpacked the car and got soaked, and now I'm in my warm, dry pajamas, so it just stands to reason that it's your turn to go back out there and put the cooler back in the car."

"You have a point there." I did have to agree with her. It was only fair. I just wasn't looking forward to getting soaked, especially since I couldn't use my hair dryer and straightening iron. I hoped I wouldn't scare Jane off with my frizzy bed head the next morning.

I finished making the salads and put the ingredients back in the cooler while Jane lit some of the candles we bought at the hardware store and put them on the table so we could see while we ate.

"This is kind of fun." I said, grinning at Jane in the candle light while spearing a tomato with my fork.

"Just wait until you have to run that cooler back out to the car." Jane deadpanned with her mouth full.

"You may have a point, but I wanted an adventure and now I'm having one." I countered.

"Suit yourself." Jane laughed. "Actually, I'm glad we didn't decide to turn back. We're going to have a great weekend if this rain ever stops."

"We're going to have a great weekend even if the rain doesn't stop."

"We are? What are we going to do? There's no power. That means no television, no computer, and our cell phones are going to go dead at some point."

"Jane, I'm surprised at you. Have we ever been at a loss for things to talk about? I know for certain that we are not going to be bored this weekend. And if things really get as bad as you fear they will, we can always go home."

"I just think we're too acclimated to city life to spend a weekend out here in the dark."

"Our ancestors did it, and they survived. I'm just going to enjoy this time spent living like our forefathers did."

"Really? Because you know I could take you to a restoration of some kind closer to home instead of us sitting here and experiencing it first hand."

"You could, and I might even ask you to do that if we leave here and have enjoyed our stay. But for now, I'll repeat what I said in the car. I'm just happy to be here with you. Once this rain stops, hopefully tomorrow, we'll have a steak dinner with the wine that I brought, and then Sunday night you can take me out for Italian food for our date." I couldn't help it, I had to bring up the "date" again. I needed to know what she meant when she so readily agreed with me calling it a date. That's why, when she responded the way she did, I didn't know if she was changing the subject or following my own trail of thought.

"You never did tell me what you were thinking about in the car before the tractor trailer of death nearly took us out."

Jane's statement took me off guard, and I still hadn't thought of what to tell her. I looked across the table at Jane and she had that smile on her face again, and the look in her eyes was hopeful.

Could it be that maybe Jane was starting to understand the attraction I suspected she felt for me? Could it be that the hope that I saw there was a reflection of the same hope that I had?

I couldn't tell for sure, and I could't risk ruining what we already had because I was foolish enough to hope for more. Not now, when we had essentially stranded ourselves in the woods of northern Massachusetts in the middle of a massive storm.

Instead of answering Jane, I stood up and gathered our plates, putting them in the sink. I could see the look of disappointment on Jane's face when I got up instead of answering her, and it hurt me to leave her hanging like that. To her credit, Jane must have sensed my discomfort because she didn't pursue it any further.

"I'll take the cooler out to the car." Jane offered quietly.

"No, no. I'll do it. I'll be right back." I slipped on my shoes and didn't bother with a jacket since it was going to get soaked anyway. I grabbed my keys and rolled the cooler back out onto the porch, then lifted it down the steps. I made it about a yard when the wheels of the cooler got stuck in the mud. I was thankful I didn't lose my balance, but I did have to stop and lift the cooler up and out of the puddle it had gotten stuck in, which caused me to stand there and get even wetter. The icy cold rain splattering down the back of my shirt was doing wonders to cool off the ever-simmering desire I had for Jane, and I was silently thankful for the way I had once again avoided Jane's question without having to lie to her.

I got the cooler to the car and I opened the trunk, looking for the blanket I kept back there for when Jane and I would picnic in the park. Once I found the blanket, I slammed the truck shut and I ran around toward the rear passenger side door. My hands were so wet that they actually slipped off the door handle the first time I grabbed it. Once I finally got the door open, I laid the blanket across the back seat and put the cooler on top of it, hoping to keep as much mud off the seat as I could.

When I ran back inside the cabin, Jane was waiting for me with a towel. She wrapped me in it the same way I had wrapped her up earlier, and when she pulled me into the same hug, instead of commenting on how wet I was, or how muddy it was outside, or how neurotic I was for wanting to keep the back seat of my car as free of mud as I could, she said "back there in the car, when you were all quiet and I asked you what you were thinking about, and said you were thinking about me? I was thinking about you, too. I think about you a lot, Maura."

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**A/N: **Ooh, so Jane does think about Maura a lot! Maybe Maura's feelings aren't one sided at all! Stay tuned and find out more!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ** This chapter is L-O-N-G. This chapter is *slightly* angsty. This chapter has gone through so many rewrites that it looks nothing like the original chapter, but I hope that despite it's length and despite the rewrites, it gives Maura and Jane's voices justice. This chapter is worth the read even though it's sort of long winded. THIS CHAPTER IS THE CHAPTER YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. :D

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 7**

Jane didn't respond to my sharp intake of breath, even though I know she could both hear and feel it from the way she was holding me. Instead, she leaned down and kissed the top of my very wet head and turned me toward the bed. "Go get changed, Maura. It's late, I'm tired and I think you are too. Let's warm you up and then let's go to bed."

It took a second for the shockwave of Jane's kiss on my forehead to wear off enough for me to locate my suitcase and start rummaging around for my pajamas. Jane made a quip about me usually being so organized when I pack and she was shocked at how long it was taking me to find what I was looking for. I wanted to tell her that I already had what I had spent my life looking for right here in the cabin with me, but instead I just used the excuse that the overall darkness in the cabin made it hard for me to find the right set of pajamas. I also wanted to toss the same phrase back at her, and ask her what was taking her so long to see that I could possibly be the one person she's been looking for, but I knew this wasn't the time or the place. That would be a conversation best held when I finally worked up the courage to tell her exactly how I felt about her. Instead, I'd relish the fact that we were sleeping on the same bed, and the fact that the low relative temperature and high level of dampness in the room would probably also mean that we'd be sleeping in very close proximity on that bed.

I changed into a pair of yoga pants and a BPD sweatshirt that Jane had left at my house ages ago. I normally would have taken more pride in my appearance, especially since it was Jane that I was going to be spending the night with, but the power outage and my thorough soaking outside dictated that I wear something warm to sleep in. I towel dried my hair as best as I could, and watched as Jane picked up my wet clothes and put them on the back of a chair near the fireplace so they could dry. I found myself marveling at how beautiful Jane was. It was more than her confident stride, more than her striking good looks. Jane's beauty glowed from within her, and I was lucky enough to be one of the few people she opened up to and let see that beauty.

I walked over to the bed and pulled down the covers before Jane could catch me staring at her. Jane arrived at the bed just as I crawled in and she made her way in behind me. I've lost count of how many times Jane and I have shared a bed. I remember the first time vividly, when Jane came over late the night Charles Hoyt was hunting her down. Then there was the time we put Jane undercover in the lesbian bar case, and I'd just fallen asleep next to her. I told her I'd fallen asleep meditating, and that wasn't a complete untruth. I had been meditating, but I'd been meditating on the idea of going to a lesbian bar with her when I'd fallen asleep. Even in the awkward position I'd woken up in, it was still the best night's sleep I could recall.

There were dozens of other times between that night and this one where we'd simply shared a bed to sleep in, but none of those nights prepared me for that Friday night. As Jane picked up the covers, I turned my back to her, mostly so she couldn't see my face or tell when I fell asleep. I had a feeling I wouldn't be getting much sleep that night, considering how much I had on my mind. I was thoroughly surprised when Jane, instead of just facing me or sleeping on her back or sleeping facing the opposite way spooned me and nuzzled my hair with her nose.

This time, she did take note of my sharp intake of breath.

"What's the matter, Maura?"

"Nothing."

"Is this OK?"

"It's fine."

"Are you sure? I could sleep on the couch, you know."

"No, I want you to stay here."

"Are you sure? Because your heart is racing and you stiffened up quite a bit."

To emphasize her point, she squeezed me and gave me another nuzzle with her nose, this time closer to my ear. Predictably, I had much the same reaction, except this time in addition to the sharp intake of breath and racing pulse, I had another reaction start between my legs that I was thankful Jane couldn't detect from her current position.

"See? I should stop." Jane said, removing her arm from around me and starting to push herself over to face the opposite way.

"No! No. Jane, please, don't stop." I reached over and brought her arm back around me, taking her hand and intertwining our fingers. I pulled her hand close to my chest, nearly between my breasts, and squeezed her hand. "See?" I asked. "Everything is fine. It's comfortable and warm and safe with you here, just like this. Please don't get up."

Jane had brought her head back down and was now sharing the pillow with me. I was relaxing into her embrace, letting both her soothing warmth and her dreamy scent envelope me when she surprised me once more.

"Maura, I have to tell you something."

I couldn't help it. I stiffened up again. Was this where she tried to let me down easily? Tell me that she knows that I have feelings for her and she won't let it ruin our friendship? Is this where she would try to tell me that she just didn't feel the same way about me that I did about her?

This time when I stiffened up, Jane did too. I did the only thing I knew how to at that point. I squeezed her hand and tried to relax.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know, but I don't know if I'm ready."

"I'll be here when you are ready, Jane."

"No, I mean, I don't know if I'm ready to tell you, but I've waited so long and I feel like if I don't tell you now, I may never tell you. I have to tell you this."

"I don't understand, Jane. Why do you fear telling me anything? I'm your vault, remember? You can tell me anything."

Jane took a shaky breath before she started to speak again, and when she did start speaking, she started rambling.

"I wasn't honest with you when I said why I wanted to come up here with you this weekend. I mean, I was honest when I said we both needed a break. These last couple of months have been such a roller coaster, and we both definitely deserve some time to relax. I also needed some time to get away from the baby drama and Tommy and Lydia. I mean, I'm glad they're working things out and they look like they are going to share custody of him, but I'm so worried about Lydia just taking off with him and leaving Tommy- and my mother, and if I'm honest, me too- heartbroken. And- " Jane paused, realizing she was getting off track. She took a deep breath and continued, dropping her head so that she was almost mumbling against my shoulder. "I'm getting off track though. The thing is, I've wanted to talk to you about this for a while now and every time I try to start talking about it, something happens, and the moment becomes totally inappropriate. I figured if we came up here we could talk about it privately, without my mother, my brothers, my partners or any dead bodies butting in."

"Dead bodies don't butt in, Jane."

Jane laughed stiffly against me. "I know Maura but work definitely has gotten in the way of this conversation several times in the past."

I tried to think about other times where Jane was somehow interrupted when trying to tell me something. I couldn't think of a single instance. Was I really that oblivious? After all the times I had silently accused Jane of being oblivious to my feelings, had I been so wrapped up in my wants and needs that I had failed to see hers? How could I let that happen?

I could close my eyes and recall every nuance of Jane's face. Just a whiff of lavender instantly made me think of her. And the mere thought of her touch on my body- anywhere on my body- was enough to set my skin on fire. So how on earth could I have missed these lost opportunities?

"Well, there's nothing interrupting us right now, Jane."

"There is, sorta. When I envisioned this conversation, I didn't imagine us essentially being stranded up here in the middle of a massive Nor'easter, with nowhere for either of us to go if the conversation didn't go the way I hope it will."

I rolled over to face Jane. I was precariously close to her, our foreheads leaning together as I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tightly. I made sure that I was looking directly into her eyes when I started speaking. "Nothing, and I mean not one single thing that you could ever say to me would send me out that door."

"I'm not sure, Maura. I mean, it's not that I don't trust you. I do. I trust you with my life, and I'd gladly give my life if it meant saving yours. I don't think I have ever trusted anyone quite the same way. But you have walked out on me before, and because of that, I am terrified of having this conversation with you."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Jane was referring to the days after she shot my biological father. They were some of the worst days of my life. Between my adoptive mother nearly dying and the betrayal I felt when Jane shot my biological father, I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I walked away from Jane. I shut her out, and in doing so, I hurt her as much as I was hurting. Jane proved though, that no matter how hurt she was, no matter how angry she was with me, she was always going to be there for me. She protected me from the deranged yogi in the frakking case and saved my leg. She saved me from a serial killer that I had been dating. Dating! How much lower could I have sunk in my quest to find what I wanted from Jane in someone else? I don't deserve someone like her. Someone who, no matter how badly you hurt them, would still put their life on the line and face countless terrors just to save your leg.

"Jane-"

"Maura, I don't want another apology from you. I'm definitely past all of that and that's not why I am telling you this. I just don't think I could survive if you cut me out again. And I've been sitting here, for more than a year, teetering on trying to tell you this and weighing it against the idea of losing you. I lost you once, before I ever got to try and tell you this, and I couldn't stand it. I felt like I'd lost everything that was meaningful in my life, and I can't deal with that again. I just can't. So I get to this point all the time, and every time I get up the nerve, I decide it's better to just let it go, and enjoy what I have with you, and not risk anything at all."

There are a million different psychological terms for what Jane was experiencing. I could quote dozens of texts off the top of my head and let Jane know that the uncertainty she was feeling was completely normal, and that with time it would fade and her trust in me would once again be complete. None of that though, would amount to what Jane needed, which was beyond just an assurance of trustworthiness. I had hurt her, and yet here she was, asking if she could trust me not to walk away from her again. I really did not deserve her.

"That's a terrible feeling, Jane, and I am so sorry I ever made you feel that uncertain. And more than anything else, I want you to know that you're not going to lose me again. Cutting you out of my life wasn't just cruel, it was the worst thing I could have ever done to you and to myself. I spent so much time wanting to hate you and I couldn't. I couldn't hate you because what happened with Paddy Doyle wasn't your fault. The entire situation was so out of control, and I wanted to find a way to blame you for it, but couldn't, because I knew all along the pain I was feeling wasn't something you caused. Despite that, I tried to find a way to make it your fault anyway. It was wrong of me, but I needed someone to assign these feelings to, and you became that person. It was unfair to you and you didn't deserve it. I think the reason I took it out on you was because you're the only person in my life that has ever made me feel. Before you came into my life I had a scientific reason for every feeling, every emotion I experienced. I could analyze myself and could explain away my emotions because I never had any depth of feeling before. Then you came along. You opened my eyes to life, Jane. You taught me what it felt like to care about someone else. You showed me how to laugh, and how to experience life by taking part in it, instead of watching it from the outside looking in. You made me realize what I had been missing all along. You taught me what compassion and bravery are. You taught me how to love. You are the only person in my life that has dared to awaken every emotion in me. When it comes to you, I can't use science to explain myself. When it comes to you, I have to just be, and go with the moment. I've never been able to do that before I met you.

"So when my mother was nearly killed and when Paddy got shot, I was so unprepared for the fear and the hurt and the uncertainty of that time that I automatically made it your fault. It was your fault I was suddenly feeling all of these things, and I needed to do something- anything- to get out from the weight of all of those emotions. So I did the worst thing I possibly could. I hurt you." I stopped and took a shaky breath, realizing that this confession wasn't just long overdue, it was almost as massive as me revealing my feelings for Jane. I was equally unprepared for both confessions and would do anything to make sure I didn't say anything that would drive Jane away from me.

"During all of that, I realized that I was hurting myself as much as I was hurting you, Jane, and the realization that I was hurting you over and over again wasn't helping me to escape those emotions, it was simply creating more of them. And instead of getting out from under the weight of those emotions by just coming to you and asking for help, I didn't have you there to help me deal with them because I kept shutting you out. It was killing me. I didn't know how to make things better and now I fear that I never did. I am so sorry for what I said and did to you, Jane. I didn't understand what I was doing. I didn't understand the fear and the hurt and the confusion. The only thing I understood was that losing you was the worst of all of those emotions. I can understand why you wouldn't trust me after I pushed you away and hurt you, but I will prove to you that I will never do that again, because I can't live without you. You are so much a part of me, that when I cut you out, I cut out the only good part of myself, too. It was selfish and stupid of me, and I will apologize for it until the day I die if it helps. You need to know that I am not going anywhere. I am always going to be right here. I will never make that mistake again, and I promise you that I will never hurt you that way again. I need you more than I need anyone or anything else. I am so sorry, Jane. I love you."

In the fading light of the fire, I could just make out the tears on Jane's cheeks. I cupped her face and wiped away the tears with my thumbs. Jane pulled me closer, wrapped her arms around me and hugged me to her tightly. When she started to release me, I leaned in and kissed her.

Before I could even realize what I had just done, before my eyes opened to the fact that I had just leaned in and kissed Jane the way no best friend ever should, before I remembered that this was not appropriate behavior for two people who were strictly platonic with one another, Jane tightened her grip around me and kissed me back.

We came up for air once, and I looked at Jane's closed eyes and heaving chest, and dove right back in for more. And once again, she was there and waiting for me. At some point, Jane intertwined her legs with mine, and even through the thick layer of clothing, that subtle change in contact started a reaction between my legs that I could not ignore. When I shifted slightly for better leverage, Jane let out a moan that told me she was having the same reaction.

It was when Jane's hand slid down my back and cupped my backside, pulling me closer to her and causing both of us to groan, that I realized that we had reached a point of no return. I came up from our kiss and saw that Jane's eyes were open wide. But instead of looking at me with shock or surprise, there was need tinged with uncertainty.

"I've never..."

"Me either, Jane. We'll figure it out."

This time it was Jane that reinitiated the kiss, emboldened by a newfound confidence and an unsatisfied need that had been simmering under the surface for far too long.

I trailed my fingers under Jane's sweatshirt, first circling her back, then sliding forward to just under her breasts. I wasn't surprised to find that she wasn't wearing a bra. We were both dressed for bed and I had never known her to wear a bra to bed before. What did surprise me was the frustrated hiss Jane let out when, instead of moving my hands upward, I took my hands out from under her shirt completely. I found the hem of her shirt and began to pull it upward. Jane broke our kiss just long enough to allow the shirt to come off, and then rolled us over so that she was on top of me. I reached a hand up and lightly touched her breast, fascinated that we could both have the same body parts but hers could be so different from my own. Tentatively I reached out, my thumb running over her nipple as I bent my leg at the knee, giving Jane a hip to grind against.

Jane covered my hand with her own and squeezed her breast, showing me just where and how she wanted to be touched. She slowly began to slide against my thigh, and let her other hand roam over my chest.

"Sit up, Maura. Take this off." Jane tugged at the sweatshirt I had on as I let go of her breast and used both hands to push upward and sit up. Jane kneeled over me and helped me take the shirt off, then settled herself so that she was sitting on my lap, her long legs wrapped around me, and her bare chest pressed into mine. We were still half clothed, and yet it was, by far, one of the most erotic moments I've ever experienced.

I started to kiss her again, slowly, in no rush to get through this. I kissed my way from her lips, across the bottom of her jaw to her earlobe. Greedily I pulled her earlobe into my mouth, and silently took note of the moan I got in return for it. I gave her earlobe a quick nibble before tracing a lazy trail down her neck to her chest with my tongue. Jane threw her head back, giving me plenty of room to lean down and take one of her nipples into my mouth. I laved her nipple with my tongue, getting used to both the texture and the taste, and then sucked at it gently. When Jane wrapped her hands around my head and urged me forward, I sucked at it a bit harder and scraped my teeth across it.

"God, Maura-" she whispered, her voice deeper and thicker than I'd ever heard it.

I slowly picked my head up as I stopped sucking, letting her nipple slide out of my mouth with a pop. I kissed my way back up her breast and down the other side of her chest, where I found her other nipple eagerly awaiting my attention. I had just taken it into my mouth when Jane's hands began to roam. She cupped one of my breasts in each hand, squeezing them softly at first and then a bit more harshly. I could feel the scars on both of her palms as she ran her hands over the side of each breast, and I shivered with delight. She may not like those scars, but they were uniquely hers and I was the only one she had ever touched like that with them.

I let go of her breast when her hands started roaming lower, opting instead to return to kissing her and freeing my hands to roam in much the same way Jane's now were roaming over me. She hesitated slightly at the elastic to my yoga pants, and I broke the kiss to look down, my forehead against hers, while I took her hand and guided it in, much the same way she had with her hand over mine on her breast earlier.

"Jane." I whispered when her fingers found their way into my folds.

"You're so wet, Maura."

I slid a hand slowly down Jane's stomach before letting myself under the waistband of her pajama bottoms and into her boyshorts. I kissed her quickly before whispering back to her.

"So are you, Jane."

"You do this to me, Maura. All it takes from you is a look. A touch. A smile. That's all it takes and you make me this wet."

I circled my fingers gently around the tiny bud hidden deep within her labia, surprised at just how hard it was. I adjusted the angle of my fingers and found my way inside of her, pressing in with two fingers and rubbing her clitoris with my thumb. "You do the same to me, Jane. For so long, I wanted to tell you. For so long, I've wanted to do this with you. For so long, I've wanted to hear the sounds you make when you come."

I began to rock my hand back and forth, trying to find a rhythm that would provide enough friction for it to start to feel good for her. It was a challenge to bend my wrist at the correct angle due to the restriction that her boyshorts were creating, but she shifted slightly when she began to slide two fingers into me, and before long we had a matching rhythm going.

Jane pressed herself back up against me, her breasts touching mine, her mouth close to my ear, as we both began to unravel. The sensation was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was softer, sweeter than any other time I had done this with a male partner, but the sensations seemed to be twice as amplified. The hot, wet, slippery pressure began to build up in both of us and when I felt Jane start to constrict against my fingers, I knew it wouldn't be long. Her breathing started to hitch and she let out a low groan.

"Maura," she whispered against my ear.

I increased the pressure of my thumb and kissed her neck, listening to the slide of our bodies against one another and Jane's slow loss of control. I wasn't far behind her, and the sounds she was making were making it difficult for me to keep control. I wanted her to come first. I meant what I said when I wanted to know what she sounded like when she came.

"Oh jeez, Maura! Oh!"

Jane flung her head back as she increased the pressure on my clit, circling harder and faster with each stroke of my own hand within her. When I curled my fingers up inside of her, she finally came, my name on her lips as part of one long moan:

"Mmmmmmmaura!"

Hearing that was all it took for me to lose the last bit of control that I had. My orgasm flashed through me, rocketing from my core up my spine. Everything around me constricted to a single point of light, before coming sharply back into focus. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled over me, and I cried out for Jane. I felt Jane pull me closer with her free hand and hold me close to her, both of us riding out the last waves of pleasure. together, before we each eased our fingers out of one another. I began to lie back slowly, taking Jane with me, making sure to never lose contact with her.

Jane found the blanket and pulled it over us, enveloping us in each other's heat. She leaned forward and kissed me softly.

We stayed that way for a while, just basking in the proverbial afterglow, snuggling, and kissing from time to time without feeling the need to say anything. The rain continued to come pouring down outside, and the wind started to pick up again. I wanted to howl along with it in pure satisfaction, but didn't. As the last embers of the fire slowly sputtered in the fireplace, Jane finally spoke.

"I should get up and put another log on that fire. It's going to get cold in here again if we let that fire go out."

"Stay here. You're all I need to keep me warm. You're all I've ever needed."

It had gotten too dark in the room to see the smile on Jane's face, but I could hear it in her tone when she spoke.

"You're all I've needed for a long time, Maura. How did you know that was what I was trying to tell you before?"

"I didn't know, Jane. I had been trying to figure out a way to tell you I have feelings for you for months now, and I was too terrified to do it. And then suddenly there I was pouring my heart out to you. I meant what I said about not being able to lose you. I need you, Jane. I want you. I want you to be the friend you've always been to me, but I'm greedy and I want more. I want you. All of you. I want what we had tonight and I want a life with you. I want to mean as much to you as you mean to me. Do you think you could want me the same way?"

"Could? I already do, Maura. I don't want to spend a single day without you. You're the best friend I've ever had, and the best thing that's ever happened to me. You're the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep at night. I'd rather be able to tell you that every day than have to hide it from you."

"I could live with that. Hearing about your undying adoration of me every day... that doesn't sound too bad."

"Okay, let's not go too crazy, Maura."

We both laughed. Jane cozied up, kissed me rather chastely, and laid her head on my shoulder. "G'night, Maura. I love you."

"I love you too, Jane."

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**A/N: **OK, so... writing dirty times always makes me nervous. If you didn't like it, please be polite in your criticisms. That's all I ask. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. It's the longest chapter in the story, but it had to be in order for Maura to make her apologies to Jane. What did you think of the way things played out? I thought that since Jane and Maura never take the direct route to ANYTHING, them having a direct conversation about their feelings would be a little too obvious. So instead Maura took the long way and told Jane that she can't live without her. Did it work? Was it plausible?

Anyway, enough author insecurity. It may be cold and dark in that cabin, but things are certainly heating up for Jane and Maura. What happens next? Stay tuned to find out. :)


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **WOW! I never expected the terrific reactions I got to that last chapter. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I am in awe of the number of follows this story has gotten, and the number of favorites. Also, as of this moment, this story is two reviews shy of 100 reviews, which is AMAZING. Thank you to everyone reading this. I can't tell you how happy you've made me!

Maura can't sleep, so that means more Rizzles smut! And fluff. Of course there's fluff. Short chapter but hopefully worth the read. The next couple of chapters are not as long as the last one was, but we'll see more "happy sexy times" with the girls and then they'll actually venture out of the cabin at some point. LOL

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 8**

I tried to close my eyes and sleep, but the excitement of this first step was too much for me. Jane loved me. She wanted me. We were actually going to become a "we". How could she sleep now? With that knowledge? It was simply too exciting, too happy, for me to fall asleep. I was uncharacteristically fidgety but did my best to keep from disturbing Jane.

About twenty minutes later I couldn't take it anymore. If I was awake, Jane should be too.

"Jane," I whispered.

"What?" She whispered back.

"Are you still awake?"

"No Maura, I am talking to you in my sleep."

I felt Jane laugh against my shoulder before she sat up on one elbow to look at me.

"I can't sleep," I whispered again.

"Me either. Why are you whispering?"

"I don't know, we're both awake." I laughed. "Why can't you sleep?" I asked her.

"I'm too happy. I'm afraid if I fall asleep none of this will be real in the morning. Also, I'm cold."

"I feel the same way." I replied. "And I'm starting to get cold too."

"Do you, are you regretting anything?" Jane asked hesitantly.

"Oh no, not at all. In fact, I can't stop replaying it in my head." I admitted.

"Me either!" Jane gushed. "It was pretty amazing. You're pretty amazing."

"So are you." I leaned up and brushed my lips against hers, enthralled by the fact that I could do that now, whenever I wanted to. Well, maybe not whenever I wanted to, depending on the situation we were in, but the option was there now, and the idea of kissing Jane whenever I wanted to sent a fresh hum of arousal through my body.

Jane leaned in to deepen the kiss, but stopped suddenly.

"Hang on," she said as she hopped out of the bed. She ran over to the fireplace, topless as she was before, and put another log on the fire. On the way back she tossed off her pants and underwear, and as she crawled back into bed next to me, she had the sexiest, most predatory gaze I'd ever seen on her face. No, we definitely would not be getting much sleep, and I wasn't about to start complaining.

Once Jane was back on the bed, she kissed me again, running her tongue over my lips until I granted her access to my mouth. Jane settled just to the side of me, and started working my yoga pants off. When she had pushed them down as far as she could, and she could no longer reach to take them completely off without breaking the kiss, she broke the kiss and then slid down my body to finish the job.

"Maura, you're so beautiful." Jane didn't hide her stare, and I warmed under her appraisal.

"So are you, Jane." It was the truth.

"Yeah but Maura..." Jane trailed off.

"What, Jane?" I asked.

"You're really, really beautiful." Jane said as she kissed her way down my body, hurriedly making her way to where she'd just removed my pants.

I felt her kiss my inner thigh, her tongue snaking out to gently taste between my folds. We both moaned simultaneously. She moaned at the taste and I moaned at the sensation. My reaction seemed to embolden Jane, and she licked again, and then again with more enthusiasm.

Before long Jane had worked me up into a frenzy, and my hips were thrusting up to meet her mouth with every stroke of her tongue. Jane reached out, under my hips and took my hands, and I held onto her as the first waves of my orgasm hit me. I finally had to release one of her hands to gently push her head away from my center. Her ministrations had become too much for my now-sensitive clit. I will never forget the self-satisfied smirk on Jane's face as she licked her lips and came back up to lie beside me.

"You even taste beautiful," Jane said as I leaned over and kissed her.

"I never knew beauty had a taste," I replied back, rolling us both over so she was now below me. "I guess I'll have to experience it for myself." I said as I made my way down her body.

She was right, of course. If beauty had a taste, Jane would be it. I couldn't get enough of her, and she was so wet that I needn't have worried about not getting enough at all. I swirled my tongue around her clit, reveling in the groans and the sighs coming from Jane. I slid my tongue down, in one long swipe from the top of her lips, down deep into her folds, and I entered her with my tongue. I felt Jane shudder above me, and I thrust deeper into her once more, before licking my way back up to the very hard bundle of nerves waiting for me. I alternated between licking and sucking, and I felt Jane tangle her fingers into my hair, pushing me harder into her. Another few strokes with my tongue had Jane coming hard and fast, and my scalp burned when she pulled my hair in the heat of the moment.

I kissed my way back up to Jane's lips, and lingered there for what seemed like days. When we broke apart she smiled at me, wrapping me up in her arms as I pulled the blankets back up around us. It may have been freezing in that cabin, even with the fire going, but I was as warm and content as I could be in Jane's embrace.

I fell asleep resting on top of Jane, with her arms wrapped around me, and I woke up in the same position the next morning, listening to Jane's even breathing.

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**A/N: **We're now just beyond the halfway point in this story. If you're still with me, THANK YOU. I hope to have another chapter up for you tomorrow. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I am ridiculously giddy at the number of reviews this story has gotten. I try to respond individually to all non-guest reviews. If I missed you, please forgive me. I'll try to make it up to you with this chapter. :) And to the guests that leave reviews, since I can't thank you individually, please let me thank you here too. Your reviews also mean a lot to me and I'm thankful that you're reading this and enjoying it. I am also amazed at the number of follows and favorites this story has gotten so far. Thank you all so very much!

This fic will start to wrap up in the next couple of chapters, and there will be an epilogue at the end. I've really enjoyed writing this and sharing it with all of you!

Uh oh, it's time for the morning after...

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm the queen of fluff. You didn't think there would actually be angst here, did you? *wink*

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 9**

I crawled out of bed, careful not to wake Jane. I picked up my yoga pants and the sweatshirt Jane had helped me to discard the night before and slipped them on. I couldn't find my underwear or my bra, and didn't bother to try looking for them. The rain had stopped during the night, but the wind was still howling outside. The power had not yet come back on in the cabin. I made my way back over to the fireplace and cleaned out the remnants of last night's fire, then set up a starter log and a few of the remaining logs from the bundle we picked up on our way up to the cabin. I had the fire going in almost no time, and stood in front of it for a few seconds, absorbing some of the warmth.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Jane came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me, snuggling up and kissing my neck.

"Little jumpy this morning, Dr. Isles?" She murmured against me.

"You're supposed to be sleeping! I was going to bring you breakfast in bed."

"How were you going to do that? The power is still out."

"I was going to make us peanut butter sandwiches. The protein in the peanut butter and the carbohydrates in the bread are good in times like these."

"Times like these?" Jane questioned.

"Uh, yes. You know, after exhaustive physical efforts. It also helps build up energy, you know, for, uh, future physical efforts."

"Maura... were you planning on a little hanky-panky?"

"I was planning on intercourse, if that's what you mean by 'hany-panky'. And you're ruining my plans by being out of bed."

"And you're ruining my plans, because you're wearing way too many clothes."

I turned around and realized that Jane hadn't put any clothing on at all when she snuck up behind me. She pulled me closer to her and started to kiss me. I pushed her gently backward, until the backs of her legs made contact with the couch, and she took the hint and sat down. Making sure I had her full attention, I pulled the sweatshirt back off, and shimmied out of the yoga pants.

"Is that better, Jane?" I asked, my voice deeper and thicker than usual.

I watched Jane nod, swallowing, unable to formulate a verbal reply. I loved leaving her speechless, but my true goal was to have her screaming my name, and I intended to get started on that immediately.

I kneeled down in front of her, and pulled her waist forward, so she was seated right at the edge of the couch. I didn't waste any time getting down to business. Seeing Jane seated like that reminded me of the way she had been on the couch next to me in my office yesterday morning. Had that only been the day before? It seemed like it was another lifetime ago.

"You know, I wanted to do this to you yesterday, in my office." I murmured to her between kisses.

"Did you really?" Jane whispered back, her lips seeking mine and preventing me from answering right away.

"I did. I was so tempted to kiss you when I sat next to you." I started kissing my way down her body while she ran her fingers through my hair, pushing me gently downward. "And I hoped if I did kiss you, that it would eventually lead me to this." I said as I made my way between her legs.

"What stopped you?" Jane asked, groaning slightly when I paused to answer her.

"I was afraid you didn't have feelings for me, and that kissing you would cross the line and ruin our friendship."

"That's how I felt too, Maura. I had some ideas of my own on that couch yesterday."

"It's a shame we waited so long, Jane. We're going to have to make up for lost time."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Jane asked, a bemused smile on her lips.

"By doing this every day. Sometimes more than once a day."

"I like that idea." Jane said and then moaned when my tongue traced a lazy circle around her clit.

"I have lots of ideas, Jane. So many. I'll tell you about them sometime."

"Okay, but do you think you could show me this idea first, before we continue talking?" Jane asked, her hands urging my head downward once more.

"Patience, Jane. Patience. The best things come to those who wait."

Jane groaned when she thought I wasn't going to continue what I had just started, and then her breath hitched when I suddenly leaned in and sucked on her clit. I didn't make her wait long at all, really. She came quickly, and as I waited for her to rest and regroup after her first orgasm of the day, I said to her "I've wished I could do this to you for a long time, Jane. I have so many fantasies about you."

"Do you really, Maura?" Jane asked, somewhat surprised.

"I do," I said, blushing. "Not all of them are sexual though."

"Tell me about some of them." Jane asked as she reached for my arm, pulling me up onto the couch beside her. I laid back, and pulled Jane on top of me. She grabbed the throw blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped us both in it.

"Well, some of them are silly, really."

"Nothing is that silly, Maura. Tell me. Maybe I can make some of them come true."

"Well, for instance, yesterday when you said to me 'I actually want to ask you something', I instantly imagined you were going to pull a ring out of your pocket and ask me to marry you. I know it's hopelessly ridiculous, but those are some of the silly things my mind immediately jumps to with you."

"That's not ridiculous at all, Maura. It's not even hopeless. Whenever I imagine my future, you're always the one I picture myself with. I tried to dissuade myself by dating men like Casey, and I think I even fell in love with Casey. But he wasn't you, and while he's a great guy, he would never come close to giving me what you do every day."

"That's incredibly sweet, Jane. Who knew you were a closeted romantic?"

"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold. Frost would never let me live that down. And Crowe? Oh my god the man would have a field day if he knew that."

I laughed, and another thought hit me. "So, getting back to what you were just saying, does that mean you plan to ask me to marry you?"

I hoped I had conveyed my question properly. It's hard for me to convey sarcasm and even cracking jokes is difficult for me. It's not that I lack a sense of humor, it's just that I lack the knowledge of social norms that usually make jokes funny. I thought I was being funny but maybe Jane wouldn't. Even I knew that the idea of a marriage proposal at this point was too much, too fast. I worried again that I had crossed another line. Jane seemed to understand me though, much to my relief.

"Someday, yes. The chances are good that I will do that. But for now, I'd like to just spend the day on the couch with you, and maybe return the favor of that orgasm you gave me just now."

She leaned in and kissed me, and before I knew it, her hands were all over me. She crawled down to the end of the couch and I bent my legs at the knees, opening up to give her access. Jane took her time, licking through my folds slowly, in long strokes. It felt so good, but I needed more of her. I took one of her hands and shoved it gently downward, and she took the hint. She slid two fingers into me and moved them in and out slowly, matching the lazy pace of her tongue. Only when I started squirming, sure that I was going to lose my mind if she didn't increase either her pace or the pressure of her tongue, did she finally give in. She curled her fingers up inside me, pressing on my inner walls, and gave my clit one last flick with her tongue. It was enough to send me over the edge, but what really surprised me was when Jane had barely even give me any time to rest. Seconds later she was back at it, and a slower, gentler orgasm swept over me, leaving me limp and unable to speak coherently.

Proud of herself, Jane slid back up and laid on top of me. When she kissed me, I could taste myself on her, and for reasons I didn't quite understand, it sent another wave of arousal through me.

I was just about to push myself back up on top of Jane when there was a loud click, and behind us the refrigerator started humming.

"Oh, I think the power is back on!" Jane exclaimed as she ran over to the light switch and flicked it on, both of us reveling in the bright light that filled the room.

"I'm going to take a shower, in case it goes back off again." I said, and ran toward the bathroom, not bothering to cover up. Jane was just a few paces behind me.

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**A/N: ** Just a few chapters left. Thanks for reading and leaving reviews! Soon our girls will actually venture out of the cabin. There's shopping in their future, and we all know what that means- for Maura at least. :)


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Sorry for posting this a bit later than usual. I was so busy brooding about just how awful the Jane/Casey storyline from last night's episode was that I didn't realized I hadn't posted today's chapter yet. I am so glad we have fan fiction to cover up the just plain "awful" that is Jane and Casey together. I get that we may never see Jane and Maura together on the show, but when they purposefully keep throwing Jane back at the guy that hurts her over and over and over again, it rubs me the wrong way.

Huh. I think I feel a fic brewing. ;)

Anyway, here's today's installment. I hope you'll enjoy it, and I hope you'll excuse my rantings about last night's episode.

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 10**

Jane weaseled her way into the shower with me, though once she was in there, we were surprisingly tame. There was lots of touching and kissing, but there was more washing and cleaning than anything else. It wasn't that there was a sudden lack of attraction between us. It was more just because we were both eager to warm up under the hot water and eager to go out and explore the area. I think we both realized that now that we had confessed our feelings for each other, we didn't have to grab every opportunity for sex as it was presented to us. I have to admit though, the idea was quite tempting.

We dried off and got dressed, and Jane ran outside to get the cooler and load its contents into the refrigerator. Then she took my hand as she led me outside. She caught me looking down at our intertwined fingers and hesitated.

"Is this okay?" she asked, holding our hands up.

"Oh absolutely, Jane. I was just... reveling in the site of it. I never thought we would get to this point, and now that we're here, I'm almost in disbelief."

"So I should hold your hand more often then?" Jane asked with a grin.

"All the time, please." I grinned back.

The mid-morning sun was making its way to the top of the sky, and the wind was finally starting to slow down. We walked along the edge of the lake, buffeted by strong breezes but enjoying each other's company.

"It's really beautiful here," I gushed. "I'm glad you invited me here with you."

"I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally tell you how I was feeling. I'm kinda bummed that you beat me to it." Jane said.

"Really?" I stopped walking and looked at her.

"Nah, not really. Relieved, yes. But I think if you hadn't kissed me when you did last night, I probably would have reached over and kissed you. Sometimes actions do speak louder than words."

"That's for sure, did you hear the two of us last night?" I giggled, blushing at the thought of Jane's body pressed against mine.

"Yeah, and I can't wait to do it again tonight." Jane replied, her voice low.

"Oh, you're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you detective?"

Jane's blush was adorable. It was so rare for me to be able to do that to her. I had to bask in the moment before I finally said "You should be, because it is a sure thing."

Jane actually let out her breath in a sigh, and I squeezed her hand tighter.

We walked about a quarter of the way around the lake when Jane spoke again. "So what happens now, Maura?"

"What do you mean, Jane?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not looking to rush things, but now that we've come this far and we've admitted our feelings for one another, where do we go from here?"

"Well, I think we just keep doing what we have been, since that's been working so well for us. We just stop seeing other people and we, well... we, you know."

"Keep having sex?" Jane asked, her blush deepening.

"Yes."

"Well I figured on all of that, but I also meant things like telling our families. Are you ready to do that? Do you want to wait a while first? I've never done this before. I mean, Ma has met Joey Grant, and Gabriel Dean, and Casey Jones, but I've never really brought someone home and done the whole 'meet the family thing'. I realize you know my entire family, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I just have never gotten to this point in a relationship before."

"And it's also never been a female that you've dated." I pointed out.

"That too."

"Are you afraid of what your mother will say, Jane?"

"Yeah. No. I mean, I don't know. She already loves you, Maura. And she has hinted more than once that she thinks you're good for me. I just don't know if she is completely on board with me being with a woman."

"Your mother is an extraordinary woman, Jane. She is loving and accepting. I don't see this as being a problem for her."

"She's going to ask us about grand babies, you know."

"Well, she has TJ now. I realize that's not going to put a stopper in her desire for more grandchildren, but maybe it'll give us some time to work things out for ourselves and make the plans that we want."

"Um, have you ever met my mother?" Jane asked, laughing. "Of course those are going to be the first words out of her mouth. Sure, she has TJ now and she loves him, but seriously the woman has a one track mind."

I laughed at the thought before I replied. "We'll just tell her it's too fast and too soon, Jane. There is still plenty of time for kids if that's what we decide we want later."

She hugged and we continued walking for a while.

"So, uh, do you want kids?" Jane asked, hesitantly.

"Not right this minute, but yes, I think I would like to be a mother. What about you, Jane?"

"I'm really not sure. I mean, I loved having TJ with us that first night, and of course the entire time we were up with him, I kept thinking about how great it would be to have a family with you, but I don't know if I'm cut out to be a mother."

"How can you say that, Jane? You were wonderful with TJ that night, and you still are whenever he comes to visit. Don't sell yourself short."

"I just think I would be too afraid to have a child of my own. What if I am a terrible mother?"

"You know you're already great at taking care of TJ, Jane. That would only transfer to any child of your own, and because it would be your child, you would likely be even better than you were with TJ, which was pretty amazing."

"You were amazing with him too, Maura. I think that motherhood may be for me, but I'm not sure if I want to actually have a baby. Maybe adoption is the best idea you know, if we ever decide we want to have kids."

"I like that idea a lot, though the idea of being pregnant and delivering a child intrigues me. I wouldn't mind giving birth to our child, Jane. But I also feel like we don't have to decide this right now. We haven't even been dating for a whole day yet."

"That's not true, Maura. We've been dating for years, we just didn't know it."

"I think you're right, Jane." I had to laugh at Jane's assessment. She really did have an amusing point. "At least we can tell your mother that we spoke about it, but it's still way too soon for us to produce additional grandchildren for her. Besides, we haven't even told your mother about us yet. We don't have to do that right away if you don't want to."

"Well, what do you think? Do you think we should keep ourselves a secret for a while?"

I could tell by the look on Jane's face that she was afraid I would have second thoughts, and by asking to wait a while before we announced ourselves as a couple I would give myself an opportunity to put a stop to things before anyone knew about us. I definitely didn't want Jane to worry about that.

"Jane, if it's all right with you, I think I'd like to tell my mother, your mother, brothers, Korsak and Frost soon after we return home. Maybe not the second we get back, but soon. I think the sooner we get this out in the open, the easier it will be. Everyone else we can tell on a need-to-know basis."

"That sound good. You wanna tell my family over Sunday dinner next week? Everyone will be there and we can just tell them all at once. And since Sunday dinner is usually in your dining room, we'll be on our own turf if things don't go as well as we hope they will."

"That's a good idea. I don't know when my mother will be back in Boston, so I'll probably just tell her over the phone. She likes you, Jane. I don't think she's going to have a problem with this at all. And my father, well, he'll just go along with whatever Mother says."

"What about Paddy?" Jane asked.

"It won't take him long to find out, even in Walpole. He admitted to trying to kill you, so he's not really on my list of priorities right now."

"Okay." I could tell Jane was relieved by that.

"What about your father, Jane?" I asked hesitantly.

"He's not really too far up on my list of priorities either. If he shows up at some point, I'll let him know. But for now, I'm in no rush to track him down and let him know."

"How would you like to tell Vince and Barry?" I asked.

"Well, we could keep it simple. We could all go to the Robber after work one day next week and tell them over drinks."

"That's a good idea. I like the idea of telling them together too."

"I'm nervous as hell about this, Maura, but I'm also really excited." Jane beamed at me. "I can't believe we're going to make this happen."

"We are, Jane. We definitely are."

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**A/N: **This one was short. And not smutty. Please don't hate me. :) More to come tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone for the reviews, the follows and the favorites. You all make me grin like a fool. :)


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **I got so wrapped up in my rant about the show yesterday that I forgot to say I had gotten ahead of myself with the shopping chapter. This is the shopping chapter. My bad. Sorry! :)

Time for some Romantic Jane...

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 11**

We made our way back to the cabin and had sandwiches for lunch. Our conversation over lunch was more like our usual chats. We talked about work, about Jo Friday and Bass, and about Stanley from the cafe's various neuroses.

Jane was enraptured by my textbook definitions of Stanley's psychological issues.

"Do you think we could have him committed?" She asked me conspiratorially.

"No, Jane. He's not a danger to himself or to others."

"Well his coffee is!" Jane exclaimed, and I laughed with her.

"And even though you solved that case with the Warfarin-laced coffee, I wouldn't put it past him to try the same trick on some of his own clientele."

"Oh my god, I am never drinking his coffee again!" Jane exclaimed.

"I have a feeling that by Monday morning, you're going to forget you made that statement and head straight to the cafe for coffee." I replied.

"No way. Stanley and his coffee are now considered armed and dangerous!"

"Yes, but you're probably going to need the caffeine, Jane. You're going to be exhausted by Monday morning."

"I am? How do you know that?"

"Because I plan to keep you up all night tomorrow night, Jane." I replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Mrowr." Jane replied back, her eyes wide.

After we finished eating we headed into town for a little while. There were some downed trees along the road, and I remarked to Jane about how bad the storm was last night.

"I can't believe we just pressed on coming up here. You would have thought the fates were against us. First the rain, then the near-incident with the tractor trailer, then the power outage."

"I think it just goes to show you that we can survive anything the world throws at us." Jane said.

"I think you're right." I replied. "I'm glad we made it up here. Last night was probably the single most fulfilling night of my life."

"Sexually or emotionally?" Jane asked, laughing.

"Both, if you really have to know."

Jane pumped her arm and said "Yes!" and I laughed at her show of pride.

The town we were visiting had a quaint Main Street with lots of small shops. Unfortunately most of them were closed, either because of the storm or because the summer tourist season had ended.

There was an open shoe store though, and of course I instantly gravitated toward it. Jane came in with me for a little while, but the sporting goods store across the street caught her attention.

"Go on, Jane. I'll meet you over there when I'm done in here." I said.

About an hour later, I met up with Jane, who was seated on a bench outside the sporting goods store with several packages under her arm. She still helped me with one of the bags I was carrying.

"How many?" Jane asked.

"I'm sorry?" I replied, confused.

"How many pairs of shoes did you buy?" She clarified.

"Oh, only five." I replied.

"Only?" Jane grinned.

"Well there was another pair that I wanted but they didn't have them in my size."

"Oh, the horror!" Jane gasped mockingly, struggling to balance one box of shoes under her arm.

"So what did you get?" I asked, ignoring her sarcasm.

"I stopped in the bakery and got us dessert for tonight. Then I stopped in the little souvenir shop to pick up a souvenir for my mother and one for TJ. Then I went into the sporting goods store and found a new cap to wear during softball practice next season."

"Wow, you were busy!"

"Well, you were taking forever, so I figured I would make good use of my time." Jane said without any malice in her voice. "So are you all shopped out now?" She asked.

"I think so." I said. "I don't think any of the other shops are open at the moment anyway."

"Oh, a few of them are, but I don't think there's anything in them that would interest you." Jane said.

My interest was piqued because I am always up for more shopping, but Jane was already walking back toward where we had parked and I really didn't want her to get bored, so I let the notion of more purchases go and followed her. We walked back to the car and Jane put the packages in the trunk. I walked up to the front seat and opened the door, finding a huge bouquet waiting there for me.

"What's this?" I asked, peering down at the flowers, my face widening into a huge grin.

Jane ran up and picked them up, handing them to me. "They're for you, Maura. I hope you like them. Roses are so typical, so I asked them to do a bouquet with their prettiest flowers. They still don't compare to you though, Maura."

"Oh Jane, that is so sweet!" I pulled Jane in and kissed her. "They are beautiful, just like you. Thank you, Jane."

Jane grinned, pleased that she had found something I liked so much. I got in the car and Jane closed the door behind me, and walked around to the driver's seat.

"So I thought now would be a good time to ask you out to dinner." Jane said.

I looked over at her, confused. "Sure, but I thought we were planning to go out tomorrow night?"

"We are. That was essentially what I was asking, but I wanted to make an official request, because I want it to be an official date. You know, with kissing and stuff."

I giggled before I could reply. "Kissing and stuff? What kind of stuff?" I asked.

"Oh, you know..." Jane put her hand on my thigh and looked at me pointedly.

"Ohhh," I replied, a sly grin forming. "THAT stuff. I see."

Jane blushed while she waited for a response from me.

"Well, since you asked so nicely, and you're sweet, and you want go on an official date, I don't see why not." I answered, lowering my gaze demurely.

"Whew." Jane exhaled in mock nervousness. "I was afraid you were gonna turn me down."

"I've waited too long to turn you down. In fact, I have waited so long for this that we may not even make it to the restaurant before we do the 'other stuff' we talked about."

Jane's blush deepened before she abruptly changed the subject.

"So, you really like them?" Jane asked, pointing at the bouquet in my lap.

I leaned across the center console and pecked her cheek. "I do, that was a really sweet idea. I love them. And I love you."

Jane gave me the same smile she had given me when we spoke about our "date" in the car on the way up here. Now that I knew what that smile meant, I wanted to see it every day for the rest of my life.

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**A/N: **It's nearly time to wrap this up. If you've been with me all along, thank you so much! I want to address some of the comments and suggestions made in the reviews. Some of you are SPOT ON with your predictions. A handful of you are looking for events that won't actually take place in this story, but of course there is a happy Rizzles ending to look forward to. The story centers mainly on their weekend away, and the epilogue talks about their future together. I don't want to give anything away but I also don't want anyone to be disappointed. The story itself will wrap up in the next few chapters.

Oh, and just in case anyone is starting to get nervous or bored, just wait for dessert! :)


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **As this story winds down, it's time for more sexy times. Of course. :) Thanks to everyone who has been faithfully leaving reviews, and to all the people following and making this story a favorite. I appreciate it so much! I owe a lot of replies to the reviews that have been left for the last two chapters, and I'm sorry I haven't gotten to them. My priority is getting the updates up while balancing a heavy work schedule and getting ready for this blasted holiday. (Sorry, so not a Christmas person. LOL) I hope you'll enjoy this update!

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**Man Cave**

**Chapter 12**

We came back to the cabin and Jane put her purchases in her duffel bag, then went out to fire up the charcoal grill. I brought the steaks out to her and put my arm around her waist while she cooked. It struck me how incredibly domesticated this would have looked to outsiders, and I loved it. I looked forward to a lifetime of nights just like this.

Dinner that night was pleasant, and even though the power had come back on, we turned off the lights and ate a candlelit dinner instead. I opened the bottle of wine I had packed and we took our time, trading glances over our meals and touching each others hands and faces whenever we could.

Now that Jane and I were together, I couldn't stop touching her. I didn't want to stop touching her. From what I could tell, Jane felt the same way.

We finished our dinner and I washed the dishes while Jane dried them and stacked them back in the cabinet over the sink. I then poured us two more glasses of wine while she built another fire. I brought the bakery box over to the coffee table and set out the pastries Jane had picked up for us while I was shoe shopping. She sat down next to me on the couch when she was done.

"While we were in town today, I checked out some of the restaurants that are there for our date." Jane said, shining that same grin at me again. "There was a burger joint and an Italian restaurant that looked like they were open year-round, but due to the storm I think they were closed today. We could try them again tomorrow if you want, otherwise we may have to take our date to another town close by."

"How about a rain check?" I asked.

"You don't want to go out on a date?" Jane asked, looking surprised and disappointed.

"I do, actually, but since everyplace around here is closed from the storm and we have the makings of a romantic dinner right here, why don't we just skip it and go out on a date when we get back to Boston?"

"We could do that, but all that we have left are the salad ingredients and stuff for sandwiches. I'm not sure that's all that romantic." Jane replied.

"Oh, I could find a way to make it romantic." I smiled.

"Really? Sandwiches and salads?" Jane asked, a smirk on her face.

"I could, actually. It's all about setting the mood, Jane."

With that I took the wine glass out of Jane's hand and put it on the coffee table next to my own. I leaned over and used the collar of her shirt to pull her forward gently, and kissed her softly. I didn't let go of her collar, but pulled away slightly to smile slyly at her.

When she leaned in for another kiss, I began to unbutton her shirt, slowly. I pushed it down off of her shoulders and reached behind her to unfasten her bra. When we broke apart from our kiss, I pushed her gently backward, so that she was leaning up against the arm of the couch. I then smoothed my hands down from her shoulders, over her breasts and then her stomach. When I reached her waist, I opened the button on her jeans slowly, and pulled the zipper on her fly down even slower. The entire time, I looked her right in the eyes and silently told her all the wonderful things I wanted to do to her.

I pulled off her jeans and then stood up silently, pulling my top over my head and reaching back to unclasp and remove my bra. Jane sat up, eyeing me hungrily. I reached around and slipped the tiny zipper at the back of my skirt down, and then stepped out of the skirt itself. I then eased myself out of my stockings and sat down across from Jane.

"Any meal can be romantic, Jane. You just have to know how to use the food to your advantage." I murmured.

"Even dessert?" Jane asked, her voice low.

"Especially dessert." I replied.

I reached over and pulled a pastry out of the box. It was filled with cream, and I stuck my finger inside, pulling some of the cream out, then I slowly raised my finger to my mouth and sucked the cream off.

"Mmm, that's good." I whispered.

Jane watched me, eyes wide with anticipation.

I slid my finger back into the pastry and pulled some more cream out. Then I brought my finger to Jane's lips.

"Want some?" I asked.

Jane grabbed my wrist and took my finger into her mouth, sucking the cream off. She held my finger in her mouth for a moment longer before releasing it.

"Good, isn't it?" I asked seductively.

"Delicious." Jane replied, her breath quickening.

I scooped another bit of cream out of the pastry and smeared it down Jane's neck, from just under her earlobe to near the base of her neck. Then I leaned forward and nibbled her earlobe for a moment before releasing it and running my tongue down, slowly, licking up the cream that I had placed there. Then I kissed my way back up, my movements as slow as I could make them. Jane's breathing had become ragged, and the sounds she was making were making a river gush forth between my legs.

I stopped at her jawline and moved to her mouth, teasing her lips with tiny kisses before deepening the kiss and running my tongue over her lips. Jane eagerly granted me entry, and soon I could taste the cream mixing with a taste that was so exquisitely Jane.

When we came up for air, I pulled another pastry out of the box and handed it to Jane.

"You had no idea what you were getting into when you bought us dessert today, did you?"

"No," she replied, her voice hoarser than it normally would be. "I may never look at pastries the same way again."

I laughed a short, low laugh and watched Jane shiver in response. She pulled some of the cream out of the pastry in her hand and gently rubbed it off on one of my nipples, then repeated the action on the other nipple. She leaned in slowly, and sucked the first nipple into her mouth, her tongue lapping the cream up gently. Before she pulled away she took my nipple between her teeth and pulled gently, and I moaned in response.

When Jane moved over to the other nipple, I laced my fingers into her hair and held her close. When that nipple was free of cream, Jane raised her head again and kissed me, deeply. She pushed me back gently, so that I was laying against the arm of the couch, and she held me there a moment, enjoying the feeling of our bodies so close to one another.

She kissed me again before trailing a hand down between us. Jane ran a finger through my folds, and I moaned. She brought her finger back up to her mouth and tasted it.

"The cream was good, Maura, but you taste so much better."

To prove her point she ran her fingers through again, picking up the wetness that I couldn't seem to stop producing, and held her finger to my lips. Like Jane had done earlier, I reached out and took her wrist, guiding her finger into my mouth. Tasting myself on her sent a sensation roaring from my mouth that landed, with a thud, where Jane had just used her fingers to gather up some of the slickness between my legs. I moaned again before I let go of her wrist and slid two of my fingers into her, massaging her clit with my thumb as she groaned. I pulled my fingers out quickly though, and brought them to my mouth as Jane gasped at the sudden loss of contact.

"No Jane. You taste better." I pulled her back down on top of me and kissed her hard, her tongue darting in and tasting herself as well.

Jane remained on top of me, kissing me, as she slid two fingers inside of me. She began to thrust her hips forward along with her hand, pumping in and out of me while her palm and thumb massaged my clit. She started almost painfully slowly, but began to pump harder when I increased the intensity of our kiss. Before long my hips were thrusting up to meet her hand, stroke for stroke. I tried to get a hand between us, to slide my fingers into Jane so we could come together, but Jane stopped me.

"No baby, not yet. You first. We have all the time in the world to get to me."

She kissed me again before I could respond, and thrust faster into me. Her thumb had created enough friction on my clit that each thrust sent a wave of pleasure through me, and I was so turned on that her fingers inside of me were sliding in and out without resistance. Each pump of her hand created a slapping sound that turned me on more and more, making me wetter and wetter.

A few moments later, I was tumbling over the edge, my orgasm intensified by the sounds, the tastes and the smells of our lovemaking.

I broke away from Jane's kiss long enough to scream her name as I came, and she held me close when I became too sensitive for her to thrust into me anymore. She waited a bit before gently removing her fingers, and I shuddered as she exited me.

Jane kissed me once more before sitting up, with one leg off the side of the couch and the other leg kneeling between my own. I sat up a bit, intent on pleasuring Jane the same way she had just pleasured me, but she stopped me, smiling.

"Bend your knee, baby. Just like this."

She bent my right knee and settled herself down on my thigh, her sex hot and wet against my bare skin. She ground down, finding the position that felt best for her, and then ground her hips forward again.

"Do you like that, Jane?" I whispered.

"It feels so good, Maura." To emphasize her point, she rolled her hips again, pressing herself harder into my thigh.

"You're so wet, Jane. I love how wet you are. Do you think you can make yourself come like this? Can you come on my thigh?"

"Mmm..." Jane moaned, grinding down harder again.

I reached up and cupped her breasts, kneading gently as she rocked back and forth against me.

"You look so hot, Jane. I love the feeling of you up against me like this."

My words must have had an effect on her, because there was suddenly more wetness against my leg, and she used the slickness she was creating to grind harder yet.

Jane leaned back and adjusted the angle of my bent knee, and slid herself further down, her sex closer to mine.

"I wanna come like this, Maura. I wanna look down at you and see your face. This feels so good."

I placed my hands over Jane's hips and helped guide her along as she slid up against me, and whispered to her again.

"Jane, come for me."

Jane was using one hand to pull herself along, using my shoulder as an anchor. With the other hand she began to play with my breasts, running her thumb over my nipples and pinching my nipples between her thumb and forefinger. With each stroke against my leg, Jane was getting wetter and wetter. She began to move faster and her breathing began to increase with her pace.

"Are you gonna come for me, Jane? How good does it feel to rub up against me like that?"

Every time I whispered to her, Jane got wetter and increased her pace.

"So good, Maura. This feels so good."

Letting go of one of her hips, I slid my hand down and over her thigh, so that my fingers would rub up against her clitoris every time she thrust her hips forward. My hip and thigh were completely covered in Jane's juices, and the sight of what this was doing to her had already begun to arouse me again as well.

"Oooh..." Jane groaned, shifting slightly again to increase the pressure of my fingers against her clit. A few seconds later I felt a hot gush of liquid against my thigh and Jane collapsed forward, her orgasm so strong that she could barely grunt.

I pulled her toward me with my free hand, my other hand trapped between us. I kissed her gently, first on her temple, then her forehead, and then her lips, and held her close.

"I cannot even begin to describe how erotic that was, Jane." I murmured to her as her breathing slowed. When I suspected that she was no longer super-sensitive to touch, I thrust three of the fingers that had been trapped between our bodies up and into her, and she screamed.

"Maura!"

"So incredibly erotic, Jane. I will never forget the feeling of you coming against me like that. It was so good Jane, I want to do it again. I want to see you come again."

"Oh, I can't- AH!"

I curled my fingers up inside of her and pumped in and out, gently at first but then a bit harder, scraping my fingers against the rough spot inside of her. Within seconds Jane's second orgasm hit her and she gushed again, around my fingers, and this time she was so weak afterward that she could only just lie there, too weak to get up.

I removed my fingers gently and wrapped both of my arms around her, pulling her as close to me as I could get her.

"You are so beautiful, Jane."

"So good..." Jane mumbled, still too hazy to really be coherent. A few minutes later Jane's breathing had become slow and regular, and I looked down to see her asleep on top of me.

"I love you." I whispered to her, and covered us both with the blanket from the back of the couch.

* * *

**A/N: **So, will you ever look at cream-filled pastries the same way again? :)

One more chapter and an epilogue after this chapter and then the story is over. I hope you've enjoyed it so far! I've got other ideas brewing, so there probably won't be too big of a gap between the end of this story and the start of the next. Thanks again for all the encouragement!


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: ** This is the last chapter, and then tomorrow we'll see a fluff-filled epilogue that hopefully will leave you with a smile on your face. Thanks so much for the reviews and for sticking with this story! I have been so overwhelmed and I thank you so very much. Responses to the reviews will come soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this last chapter. :)

* * *

**Man Cave**

**Chapter 13**

We both slept soundly on the couch that night, waking early Sunday morning. Jane shifted against me as she awoke, and we realized at about the same moment that our hot sex from the night before had turned into a slightly sticky mess for us that morning.

"Hey." Jane whispered against me.

"Morning." I whispered back.

"I uh..." Jane trailed off, looking down between us.

"I need a bath, I think. You want to join me?" I asked, alleviating some of Jane's discomfort.

"Yeah, that would be good. I can't believe, I mean, I never, that was, um..." she trailed off again, clearly embarrassed.

"That was one of the hottest experiences I have ever had, Jane." I said, trying to understand why Jane suddenly felt so confused.

"It was for me too, it's just that I never, well, I don't think I've ever gushed all over like that before. You know, during sex I mean." Jane finally said, blushing bright red.

"I guess you never orgasmed quite that hard before, Jane." I replied with a cocky smile.

"No, I haven't, but I mean, that, is that normal?" She squeaked, and part of me wanted to laugh at her embarrassment, but I knew she would misunderstand me, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.

"Very normal, Jane. There are lots of studies into female ejaculation. It's a normal response to pleasurable stimuli. I found it extremely erotic and quite a turn on. You've got nothing to be embarrassed about." I leaned up and kissed the tip of her nose, just to punctuate my point.

"Has it ever happened to you?" Jane asked, wary that I may be stretching the truth to make her feel better.

"It hasn't yet, but if we keep going the way we're going, it won't be long before I do that too."

"Is that your way of telling me to try harder?" Jane asked, her smile belying the uncertainty of her question.

"Not at all. I'm just saying that every time we make love, I become more and more attracted to you. Considering how attracted to you I was before, it won't be long before you have me reacting the same way you reacted last night."

"You wanna try again right now?" Jane asked, one eyebrow quirked.

"Actually, as tempting as the offer sounds, right now I'd like to take a bath. I'm feeling quite sated at the moment. You were amazing last night, Jane." I leaned up and kissed her briefly, afraid she would think I was putting her off because of what had happened the night before.

"A bath it is then." Jane said as we broke apart, only slightly disappointed in being turned down. I could tell that she too was sated for the moment, but knew it wouldn't be long before we were going at it like rabbits again. There was no way I could keep my hands off of her. I didn't want to, and more than likely, Jane wouldn't stop me. I liked the idea of that, and I smiled as I took her hand and led us to the bathroom. She grabbed two towels as I began to fill the big tub.

"Considering the small size of the cabin, I'm surprised that there's such a big bathtub in here." I remarked.

"The cabin is pretty old, I would imagine that the claw foot tub was probably here before the shower head was installed. Tubs like this were typical in the era when this cabin was built." Jane replied.

"Wow, Jane, I'm impressed!" It was unusual for her to know such random facts, and I wondered where she garnered such knowledge.

"I probably heard it from you somewhere before." She said shyly, sensing my unasked question.

"You were listening?" I asked, genuinely surprised. I was used to people tuning me out when my Googlemouth got started.

"Always, Maura."

We smiled sheepishly at one another, and when the tub was full, I stepped in and sat down. Jane placed herself in front of me. I lathered up a wash cloth and began to soap up her back, and stopped when I felt Jane tremble as I washed over the scars on her lower back, where Bobby Marino's bullet created its exit wound.

"Are the scars painful to touch?" I asked quietly.

"No, sometimes I forget that they are even there at all." Jane replied.

"Oh, I thought I hurt you just now, because you trembled."

"It's not because they hurt so much as it hurts to think about what could have happened that day. I could have lost Frankie. I could have lost you. Those scars are a reminder of all I have to live for. Especially now."

I leaned back into the tub, taking Jane with me and held her to me. I leaned my face forward so that my whispered words went directly into her ear.

"I wasn't afraid of dying that day, Jane. I was afraid of losing you. Watching you shoot yourself was one of the worst moments of my life. I loved you back then, even if I didn't fully understand how I loved you, I still loved you. Even now, I still can't imagine my life if you hand't survived that. I don't know what I would have done without you. I still don't know. I don't ever want to lose you."

Jane covered my hands with her own and squeezed them.

"I loved you back then too, Maura. And I hope that there will never be another Bobby Marino, Charles Hoyt, or Dennis Rockmond, but I will always, always make sure that you are safe."

"I know, Jane. I've never felt safer with anyone than I always have with you. Even when I was terrified, unable to move from fear, deep down I knew you would protect me. And I don't know how to thank you for how many times you've put your life on the line to make sure I made it out of a situation safely. I don't think you can thank a person for that with words alone, but you should know that I am grateful."

I paused for a moment and Jane lifted one of my hands to kiss it.

"You're welcome, Maura. I would do it all again if I had to, you know."

"I have no doubt that you would. But do you think you can try to avoid shooting through yourself in the future? It's not that I don't appreciate what you did to save Frankie and I that day, but..." I let my voice drift off, but pressed my lips into the back of Jane's head.

"I'll see what I can do." Jane replied with a small laugh. I think it dawned on Jane at that moment that we had survived everything we had gone through in the past because it was all meant to lead us to this place, to this moment. I think it dawned on her the same way it dawned on me. I hugged Jane closer to me and nuzzled my nose into her neck. That was where we were supposed to be. That place and that moment was how we were destined to end up, and I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that we were going to be all right. Our relationship was only going to get stronger with each passing day, and I found myself looking forward to a lifetime of adventures with Jane.

"I love you," Jane whispered as I was lost in thought.

"I love you, too." I said and kissed her cheek.

We finished up our bath and got dressed, and I tossed the blanket and couch cushion covers into the stacking washer/dryer combination in the linen closet. There was no need to make the housekeeper clean up after us. Not that kind of mess, anyway.

"Would you like to go for a run?" I asked Jane. "The trails are probably not as muddy as they were."

"Well, we just took a bath. I'd rather not get all sweaty." Jane responded.

"That's true. I have an idea, and I don't want you to get the wrong impression. But why don't we eat an early lunch while the washer is running, and then head back to Boston? It's great here, but we have a long drive home and the restaurants we wanted to go to tonight are probably closed. If we head back to Boston, we could go on our date there tonight."

"And then you can get me home early enough to do as you please?" Jane asked with a sly grin.

"Precisely."

"I like how you think." Said Jane.

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**A/N: ** Thanks for staying with me. The epilogue is next, and it wraps all of this up. :)


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **And this brings us to the end... or is it just the beginning for our favorite characters? Hopefully there is enough fluff in this last part of the story to leave a smile on your face.

Thanks for all of the reviews, and for sticking with this story! I never imagined people liking this story as much as you all have. You really made me so happy, and I thank you so much for sticking with me through this. Hopefully I can get to the rest of the unanswered reviews today as well.

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**Man Cave**

**Epilogue**

_One year later..._

Jane had been working a tough case, and got up about an hour before me one Saturday to head into the precinct. She told me that she was supposed to meet her partner Barry Frost to question a suspect as soon as the suspect got off of his night shift. They didn't have grounds to arrest him, but they had invited him in for a "friendly chat", as Jane had put it. Jane was aggravated that she had to do this on a Saturday morning, so I decided to placate her and tell her I would meet her at the precinct so I could do some paperwork that needed to be taken care of. She seemed less irritated over missing a Saturday off since I would be at work with her, even though I had decided to sleep a little later. My paperwork really wouldn't take as long as her interview, so I told Jane I would meet her there. We had had a very late night the night before, celebrating our one year anniversary as a couple.

I was expecting Jane to be in the middle of her interview when I arrived at the morgue that morning, but was surprised to find her sitting in my office with a cup of coffee waiting for me.

"Morning." She said, and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips.

"It is a good morning indeed, Jane. I wasn't expecting to see you down here. What a nice surprise."

"Patrol picked up a guy covered in blood at 2:30 this morning. Not his own blood, someone else's blood." Jane clarified. "Turns out the blood he had on him belonged to our vic, and I didn't need to question the other suspect. We were able to get a confession out of the blood-covered guy pretty quickly. I guess it's hard to lie when you're covered in your own murder victim's blood."

"Wow, what a lucky break."

"Yep. Sometimes you just get lucky." Jane replied.

"Like last night?" I asked coyly.

"Not the same thing, but yes, like last night." Jane replied as she sat down on the couch. "Hey, do you remember we had a morning just like this last year? We were just heading up to Frankie and Tommy's man cave right around this time."

"How could I forget?" I asked.

"That was an amazing trip, wasn't it?" Jane asked in reply.

"It definitely was. I can't believe an entire year has gone by already."

"Me either." Jane said. "Time flies when you're having fun though."

Jane patted the place on the couch next to her, and I sat down, this time not hesitating to lean my head on her shoulder and give her a peck on the cheek.

"I can't believe we made all sorts of plans about coming out to our families and friends on the trip back home, and your mother caught us kissing before we were even home for five minutes." I reminisced.

"That was... horrifying." Jane said. "But her inability to keep her mouth shut saved us a lot of effort in breaking the news to my family. I was surprised she took it as well as she did."

"She did better than take it well, she was overjoyed. I wasn't surprised though. Your mother is an amazing woman." I replied.

"But I was right when I said the first thing she was going to ask us was when one of us was going to start giving her grandchildren."

"You did see that one coming, yes." I agreed.

"I was also kinda bummed that Korsak and Frost already assumed we were a couple, and were more shocked that we were just then getting together than they were over the fact that we had become a couple. I mean, both of them thought the same thing!"

"That was a bit surprising." I said, grinning at the memory.

"Your mother and father were really good about it too. I don't think your mother was surprised either. It's like everyone could see what we didn't want to see, or what we didn't want to admit to seeing. Sometimes I can't believe we waited as long as we did. Looking back at it, I can't believe how long I hesitated in trying to tell you how I felt about you."

"Well, we were both unsure of ourselves. The idea of losing you terrified me, and I was afraid you would run away after I told you I had feelings for you."

"I was afraid of the same thing." Jane said as she nodded her head in agreement. "I didn't want to risk losing you. I don't ever want to lose you, Maura."

Jane stuck her hands in her suit jacket pockets and looked down at her shoes. I watched her take a deep breath and then look back up at me.

"I actually wanted to ask you something."

Jane had looked worried as she spoke, but I suddenly flashed back to the morning a year ago, when Jane asked me the same question and I instantly imagined her proposing to me. I couldn't help but smile.

Seeing my smile, Jane said "You're not having that marriage proposal fantasy again, are you?"

"Actually I was. I can't help it. We were talking about our trip and everything, and I remembered telling you about that little fantasy of mine."

"Well that's good, actually. I'm glad to see that you still think about that."

Before I could reply, Jane pulled something out of her pocket and stood up, before quickly kneeling in front of me. "Maura Dorothea Isles, you are my world. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Jane held a ring between her thumb and forefinger and held it out toward me. She looked at me with wide eyes and a hopeful expression on her face as I gasped in surprise.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" I yelled, and held my hand out so she could put the ring on my finger.

Jane gave me that bright, hopeful smile again. The same one she showed me when we talked about going on our first date. The same smile she showed me the day she gave me flowers. The same smile she had been showing me almost daily since we first confessed our love for each other. It was the same smile that took my breath away, and I knew that it always would.

Jane sat back on the couch next to me after she slid the ring onto my finger and kissed me. We had to stop ourselves after a moment, because the kiss was quickly becoming heated, and though over the course of the last year Jane and I had had a few secret trysts in my office, we could both hear the lab staff working just outside. Neither of us wanted to tempt fate by having them walk in during the heat of the moment.

"That was a very enthusiastic reply," Jane said with a smile.

"The reply itself was what I had imagined saying in my head in my fantasy. The kiss was... well, the kiss was just a natural reaction to your proposal and a symbol of just how deep my love is for you." I said as I took her hand.

"So you really want to marry me?" Jane asked, beaming.

"Of course I do, Jane. But on one condition."

Jane froze, suddenly worried.

"I will marry you so long as you don't make it a habit of using my middle name. All right, Jane Clementine Rizzoli?"

Jane let out the breath she was holding and started to laugh. "I think I can handle that, sure."

"Good. Then I'll marry you." I cupped my hands on Jane's face and kissed her again, sweetly, then looked at the ring she had chosen for me.

"This is a unique ring, Jane. It's beautiful."

"It's rhodonite surrounded by diamonds. Rhodonite is-"

I interrupted her "-is the state gem of Massachusetts. I'm impressed!"

"I actually picked up that ring for you the day at the cabin when we went shopping and you were taking forever to try on shoes. One of the few stores open after that storm was the local jeweler. I was lucky you didn't see the store was open after you came out of the shoe store. I was afraid if we went in the owner would tell you I had just bought this ring. He was a really chatty guy! So I just pointed us back toward the car and hoped to distract you with that bouquet of flowers on the front seat." Jane was grinning from ear to ear as she continued.

"The owner told me that there is a rhodonite mine not far from the town where we were staying. The gem was locally mined and the jeweler I bought it from had cut and polished the gem himself and placed it in this setting."

"You picked out my engagement ring less than twenty-four hours after we had gotten together?" I asked, slightly incredulous.

Jane blushed as she answered. "I did. I didn't specifically set out to get the ring that day, but when I was wandering through town and passed the jewelry store, the idea hit me. I knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, and it just seemed like a ring that symbolized where and when we first told each other we were in love would be a good way to ask you to marry me."

"It was a wonderful idea, Jane. And this is a beautiful ring."

"If you would prefer a more traditional engagement ring, we can go pick one out. This ring isn't... it's not cheap, Maura. But it's value isn't the same as a traditional diamond engagement ring."

"You're right, Jane. It's value isn't the same."

Jane's face fell slightly.

"It's priceless. I wouldn't trade this ring for anything in the world." I said and pulled Jane in for yet another kiss. "I love this ring, and all the thought you put into it."

"I'm glad you like it. I was afraid it wouldn't be quite up to the standard you're used to." Jane said with a weak smile.

"Jane it's wonderful. I really mean it."

"Your mother seemed to like the idea too."

"You spoke to my mother?" I asked, incredulous.

"I spoke to both your mother and your father when they were in town a few weeks ago. I wanted to do this the right way. I told them what I was planning, but didn't tell them about the ring. I was sort of afraid that they would realize their daughter was marrying a blue collar girl and that I would never be able to provide for you at the same standard that they always had. Then your mother pulled me aside and asked me if I had gotten a ring for you already, because she had your grandmother's ring if I wanted to use it. That's when I told her about the ring I had gotten. She's a romantic at heart, Maura. She really liked the idea."

"When was I ever not in the room with you while my parents were in town?" I asked.

"Do you remember the call I got about a lead on one of my cases the night before they left?"

"I do."

"I had actually set an alarm on my phone to go off. No one had called me. I used that as an excuse to go see them at their hotel."

"You're sneaky." I said, grinning.

"They thought so too, and then I was worried they would think I would be sneaky like that all through our marriage."

"I know you won't be, Jane. I trust you."

"Thank you. And we need to give my mother a prize, because I also spoke to her about this a couple of weeks ago, and she actually managed to keep her mouth shut."

"She did?!" I asked, amazed at the restraint that Angela had shown.

"Well, I didn't tell her exactly when I planned to do this, so she didn't have any kind of a timeframe to measure against and let the secret out. I've known for for a few months now that I wanted to pick today to ask you, because of your little wedding proposal fantasy. It's exactly one year to the date since I asked you to go to the cabin with me. I actually just spoke to her about marriage in general, and told her that I was planning to pop the question at some point."

"What did she have to say about that?" I asked.

"Well, she was thrilled, of course. And she had really good advice to give me. And then of course she got started on the whole grandchildren tangent again."

I laughed, thinking of Jane's mother demanding one (or both) of us to suddenly start producing more grandchildren for her.

"TJ is a year old already. He needs a cousin or two to play with." I said with a wink.

"Oh god, not you too, Maura."

"I'm just kidding. But someday, maybe."

"Someday. But for now I want you all to myself." Jane said as she hugged me. "I love you." Jane said with her face buried in my hair.

"I love you too, Jane."

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**A/N: ** And that, my friends brings us to the end of this story. Thank you all so much for your encouragement and for following this story through to the end.

I'm working on another multi-chapter fic at the moment. It's not as fluffy as this one was and it isn't written in a first-person point of view. It does eventually lead to Rizzles though, so once I start to publish it maybe you'll give it a read too. I don't like to start publishing my fics until the vast majority of the story is written. This prevents long gaps between chapters, which is something that my impatient self can't really stand when I'm reading a fic. :D I am about 10,000 words in to the very rough draft, so it will probably be a week or two before the story finishes itself and the first chapters start hitting the web. In the interim I'll probably publish a couple of quickie one shots too.

Wishing all of you out there all the best for the holidays and the coming new year. May all your days be bright and full of happiness and cheer! And Rizzles too! :)


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